Christmas fundraising trends to help you plan

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It comes around earlier every year. It may only be July, but before we know it, it’ll be November. By then, charities will be mid-fundraising flow, putting plans into action for December and the Christmas giving period. Before they can get to that point, they need to have some understanding of what donors want during that time. As the best Christmas shoppers know, preparation is key.

The festive season is essential for charities, with the 2023 Christmas Giving Insights report from Enthuse, revealing that Christmas Eve (24 December) has seen the most donations throughout the month during 2021, 2020, and 2019. More recently, in 2022, 21 December proved popular with donors, with 4.9% of the month’s donations coming through on that date.

Understanding donor behaviour over this period is essential for charities being able to tailor their communications, interact with their supporters at the right time, and ultimately, maximising their fundraising efforts in order to deliver more services to those who need them.

With so many donors wishing to donate to good causes during the season of good will, being able to steward them through the process accordingly is essential. Below, we explore three more trends from the Christmas Giving Insights report, which you can download here.

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Is Giving Tuesday worth it for UK charities?

Founded in the U.S. in 2012, Giving Tuesday has become a staple of the fundraising calendar for many charities, encouraging donors to donate time, money, or simply a post on their social media to raise awareness of their cause.

However, while it remains a hugely successful fundraising day in America, raising more than $3 billion in 2022, it has driven fewer donors in the U.K. According to the Christmas Giving Insights report, 2022’s Giving Tuesday, which fell on November 29th, was only the third best performing Tuesday of the giving season (defined as 28th November until 1st January).

The first day of December proved more popular with U.K. donors, accounting for 4.3% of donations from the festive giving period. In fact, it was the joint fourth highest fundraising day for the month.

“This points to charities getting a better return by focusing on allocating their budget for Christmas campaign launches from 01 December rather than from Giving Tuesday,” concludes Enthuse.

What day is best for fundraising at Christmas?

Both the date and day your supporters choose to donate is a prime factor in fundraising, particularly during December. The report found that, while December 21st was the top donation day for 2022, December 20th received the highest donations revenue per day, but not the volume.

These highly-funded days fell on a Wednesday and Thursday in 2022, making it clear to Enthuse that charities are “better off putting their campaign efforts into Wednesday to Friday”. Wednesday was the best-performing day on average, with weekends falling far shorter of the mid-week fundraising heights. “As Enthuse notes, “Supporters will have their focus elsewhere on weekends and this should be factored into planning.”

In 2022, the fourth week of December was the most popular for donations, with the report recommending that charities ensure they have campaigns running during this time.

Keep an eye on events

Charities should also watch out for anomalies, however – Enthuse suspects that the FIFA World Cup, held in Qatar during December, may have been a factor in the diminished success of the third week, which had been by far the most popular week in 2019.

Enthuse explains: “England were knocked out of the competition at the end of week two. It’s possible that this week would have been an expensive one for those who took interest and it may have led to people easing on their spending in week three as a result. Equally, people’s disappointment may have carried over into week three and blunted the public’s usual generosity.”

For more analysis into fundraising at Christmas, you can download the full Christmas Giving Insights here.