As we head into the most critical fundraising season of the year, tips on how to implement successful #GivingTuesday and Year End campaigns have been circulating the digital airwaves. They’re all very good—no matter what happens with the election, the economy, a new surge of COVID cases, we must continue fundraising.

So we continue on with our plans. It’s all the same, right? No. It’s not. It’s different. Very, very different. I’m reminded how different it is every time I look into my dining room and see my three kids on Zoom or when I explain why we’re having frozen pizza for dinner again (I gave up cooking about four months into the pandemic).

I’m not suggesting you stop fundraising. But I am suggesting you understand your audience more than ever before. And you need to be especially cognizant about the environment you’re fundraising in – and how that impacts your organization.

Research shows that elections generally don’t have an impact on fundraising. Yes, there was an uptick after the 2016 election, but not for all nonprofits. And the revenue gains weren’t necessarily driven by new donors, but by high-value donors and sustainers.

But research doesn’t show us what happens if a winner of a presidential election isn’t called for weeks. Or if the loser won’t concede and a massive number of votes are called fraudulent.  What does your GivingTuesday and Year End plan call for then? 

Right now, we are currently in a deep recession and without an additional stimulus bill, the result could be tragic for our economy and the people hardest hit by the recession. This recession could impact direct response more than previous recessions because it is directly impacting middle-class donors. And, while direct response was generally not impacted by the S&P, as direct response programs have diversified their giving vehicles beyond cash (think DAFs and gifts of stock), year-end campaigns could be more subject to the volatility of the S&P than in years past. How do you message during a recession? Or better yet, can you target the right people who may still have the capacity to give?

And while I’m sick of “cereal for dinner” nights, by GivingTuesday the entire country could be in a very serious second wave of the pandemic, with potentially new lockdowns than we’ve experienced to date. That means very different holiday gatherings (sorry Uncle Fred, no three helpings of pie for you) and online Black Friday “door busting”. Kantar’s Covid-19 Barometer found that nearly 80% of people had no holiday plans—reprioritization and moderation are today’s buzzwords. Are you ready to change course if the U.S. holiday season looks more sedate and subdued?

Again, I’m not advocating for you to stop fundraising. As fundraisers we cannot go dark. However, we need to evolve our messaging–we need to be bold, take a stand, show how your organization is rising to meet the challenges.

We also need to provide donors with an outlet to action and be part of the solution. This is the time that donors can truly make a difference. Let them. How donors make a difference will look different across organizations, because donors get involved with our causes for different reasons. It’s critical that we make sure our messaging, calls-to-action, stewardship, and plans reflect our individual donor bases—and what our donors are looking to do right now. 

But, above all, for all organizations, we need to make sure our donors have a place where they feel valued because they took action—action that is leading to real change.