Robust year-end giving plans involve a variety of strategies carried out over a 2-3 month period (October – December).
Depending on the organization, successful year-end giving plans may involve emails, letters, weekend worship announcements, videos, Giving Days, social media, events, and intentional conversations with major givers.
Here is ONE strategy, focused on major givers, that can be helpful in building/maintaining relationships with givers, thanking givers, and encouraging givers to prayerfully consider a generous year-end gift.
In September of 2025, run a list of everyone who gave significantly to your ministry during the last 3 months of the last calendar year (October 1-December 31, 2024). Set the parameters according to what makes sense for your ministry. Perhaps run a list of everyone who gave a gift of $5,000 or more at the end of 2022 and then organize that list from largest givers to smallest givers. Or run a list of the top 50 year-end givers.
Reach out to each person on the list with a personal email or hand-written note (on a branded notecard from your ministry) that says something like this:
Dear David & Alison,
I hope that things are going well for you. (Insert personal sentence or two if possible, such as: “I enjoyed seeing you at church last Sunday” or “We loved having you at the alumni event in September.”)
I understand that you made a generous gift to _____ at the end of 2024, and I want to thank you for your faithful support of our ministry. Your year-end gift to our church fueled a lot of ministry here in 2025. Thank you for your faithful giving and service — you are appreciated!
As 2025 draws to a close, I hope you’ll prayerfully consider making another generous year-end gift to ____. With God’s help and the generosity of God’s people, we will continue to live out our mission to _____. 2026 is going to be a wonderful year of ministry!
With gratitude,
Cindy Jones
Stewardship Committee Chair
The personal nature of these notes can’t be overstated. If these are alumni parents with a child who graduated last year, mention that you miss seeing them on campus but hope they will continue to support the school. If you haven’t seen them at church, tell them you miss them. If you know they care about children’s ministry, mention that the new CM director is off to a great start.