Leveraging Trends to Increase Revenue

One could make the argument that all marketing programs are inherently seasonal. Confectioners promote chocolate for Valentine’s Day and Easter. Apparel companies market swimsuits in spring and heavy jackets in the fall. [Your brand] is busy during the lead-up to [your busy season]. The same is generally true for cause brands, especially in the fourth quarter. When Charity Navigator studied year-end giving trends, the organization found that 31% of most nonprofits’ donations come in the month of December alone. 

For the American Indian College Fund, we run campaigns all year long to increase awareness, encourage people to sign up for newsletters, and motivate them to make donations. We’re also constantly reviewing the data for trends for how we can better engage audiences through paid search (Google and Bing) and paid social (YouTube TrueView, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). 

The College Fund converts donations into scholarships for American Indians and Alaska Natives to receive college degrees. And in the time we’ve worked with the organization, the percentage of Natives with a college degree has gone up from 13% to 14.5%. This is a significant gain for Indian country.

So while we’re working to increase mission awareness and promote visits to StandWithNativeStudents.org year-round, we also reserve a significant amount of budget for the month of December, or as it’s commonly known, end of year (EOY). For perspective, in 2018, the College Fund collected 43% of all donations and 60% of all revenue during the EOY period. 

Reviewing year-end giving trends, we found that 70% of all donations occured in the last two weeks of December—an indicator of micro-seasonality. We decided to put the data to the test and shaped our EOY budget accordingly, making every paid-media dollar work harder. 

What happened? We saw significant year-over-year increases in donations (+130%) and revenue (+129%) in December 2019. In comparison, in 2018, the College Fund recorded 194 donations and $35,502.34 in revenue from paid search and paid social. In 2019, from the same paid channels, the organization noted 388 donations and $81,238 in revenue. 

This strategy informed by year-end giving trends is just one example of how we are constantly mining donor engagement and donations data for other similar patterns. In fact, in Q2 2020, the College Fund saw a 591% YoY increase in donations, with digital revenue up 506% YoY, all amid increasing uncertainty about nonprofits’ response to the pandemic. The cost per dollar raised, a key indicator of targeted strategy and execution, also went down by 71%. 

Data analysis, however, can only take a program so far. There are at least three critical factors that make this work possible. With the College Fund, we are fortunate to have: 

• Transparency in reporting. We set and execute the paid-search and paid-social strategy, and we know its results. We compare this data against what the College Fund actually receives, looking closely at timing and sources.
• Keen understanding and shared prioritization of key performance indicators (KPIs). The College Fund exists to support American Indian higher education. Funding from a diverse and growing base of donors makes this all possible, which is why we prioritize donations and revenue in our objectives as well.
• Trust. Our teams have spent several years building a collaborative, trusting relationship. The data gives us confidence to try new approaches, and the College Fund gives us the room to try.

How would you rate your organization (and any partners) on these key ingredients? How will you leverage year-end giving trends for your brand’s success?

Now in our 50th year of business, Vladimir Jones is Colorado’s original independent, integrated advertising agency, with offices in Denver and Colorado Springs. We believe in brilliant brands and love making the world love them as much as we do.