Have You Made Your Holiday Gift Guide Yet?
Mid-November always coincides with a flurry of emails regarding holiday shopping deals, Black Friday specials, and Oprah's Favorite Things. As a nonprofit consultant, my take summed up is: Get in on the action.
During this time of year, people are especially focused on giving, which often coincides with buying. So why not seize the moment to shine a light on your nonprofit's commercial donors, preferred vendors, and other relevant partners?
Your stakeholders, including advisory council, board members, donors, and staff, all have their own (long) shopping lists of gifts to buy for a host of characters likely to be found on your personal list (e.g. respective friends, family, kids' teachers, coaches, et al).
Why not make it easy for your supporters to shop while helping your partners close out the year in the black?
To-Do's:
Compile a list of partners who have supported your nonprofit through in-kind donations, raffle prizes, auction items...
Draft an email along the lines of: 2020 Holiday Gift Guide Featuring [Nonprofit Name]'s Treasured Partners
Include your partners' logos with clickable links to relevant URLs (e.g. eGift Card landing page)
Extra credit: line up special promotions with your partners [Save 15% with This Code], and highlight these deals in your email copy
I am confident this email will not only delight your intended recipients, it will strengthen relationships with your current partners and help foster new partnerships. Let me know if you could use some help.