With Halloween coming up and the holiday season right around the corner, now is also a good time for your alumni association to play “trick or treat” with your supporters.

We’re approaching the time of year where people are most likely to support charitable organizations and causes they care about. Your existing member base and other potential donors all have a connection to your organization and to your alma mater. While it’s understandable to be nervous about creating new giving campaigns for the holidays, sometimes all it takes is making the ask.

So in this “spooky season” that is upon us, we encourage you to be brave and make that ask! Here are a few tips for you to employ this season that will help you increase your donations.

Create a personalized message

Any time you’re asking for donations, you should make sure the message you’re giving is tailored to whoever will be receiving it. Certain members of your audience might respond better to a simple lighthearted request, others might want a more formal approach. 

You can still use the same general narrative in your giving campaigns, but tweak the language slightly, especially for older alumni versus more recent alumni.

Be direct and concrete

When asking for donations, don’t try to dance around the topic. Instead, specifically state how much money you hope to raise and how your donors can help you achieve your goal by giving specific dollar amounts.

Provide tangible items that will be supported by their donations, if you think that will drive more action. Some donors like to know about specific initiatives for which money will be used, such as scholarships or educational programming. 

You should also provide information about the specific perks or benefits that come with donating a certain amount. 

Make donating easy

Your ask will be much more successful if you do whatever you can to remove barriers from would-be donors. Provide a link directly within an email that takes donors to a secure payment portal. Keep donation links live on your website whenever you call for donors. If you send out physical mailers, include stamped envelopes addressed to your organization so donors can easily send back checks.

Now that you understand the tricks, go out and get those treats! Good luck with your fall fundraising.