4 Fall Fundraising Priorities

It’s fall! You know what that means? Every board member must help with year-end fundraising. After all, they approved your 2026 revenue goal as part of your board-approved annual budget!

Giving Tuesday is December 1st this year. And December is when many donors give. So now is the time to start planning.

Four for Fall Fundraising

These 4 Simple Steps will help your board feel comfortable rolling up their sleeves for year-end fundraising:

1. Get your board to approve a 2026 Board Give/Get Pledge. Each board member’s personal pledge is the 1st step in asking peers to give (watch why: YouTube @cultivategiving). You can download our Board Give/Get Form free — look under board templates.
2. Assign board liaisons to a list of your VIP donors. Peer outreach can make all the difference in getting the gift! We talked about how to get your board calling donors at our October Fundraising on the First webinar. You can always see last month’s video there, too.
3. Download the Giving Tuesday Guide. Have you started planning your Giving Tuesday campaign? Use their GT Planning Guide. Get your board connecting with donors as part of a global, online giving movement.
4. Create a script for board members to share your Giving Tuesday and year-end appeals. Ours is below for you to use. A script helps folks feel comfortable starting, and that’s the hardest part.

Board Script for Sharing your GT + Year-End Appeals on Socials

This simple script makes it easy for each board member to share your online appeals. (More scripts for social sharing and mailed appeals are in the Major Donor Essentials bundle.) Here’s an example Board Script for you to use…

Hello DONOR.NAME,
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I’m excited to share an organization that I believe is doing amazing work in our community. I proudly serve as a volunteer board member of OUR.NONPROFIT.
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This year we’re raising awareness about the impact OUR.MISSION. I hope you’ll join me in supporting OURNONPROFIT’s work this year. Here’s a link to learn more: [link to ABOUT or DONATE page]. I’d love to talk with you and share why I care. You can reach me anytime by email or at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
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With appreciation, BOARD.MEMBER.NAME

You’ve got this.