Tis the season! It’s that time of year again where holidays, festivities, and advertisements about fantastic shopping deals surround us in our daily lives. But in the midst of it all, its good to take a step back and reflect on what we’re thankful for and to take the time to give back.

Now that it’s November and #GivingTuesday is coming up in less than a month, nonprofits have undoubtedly put in countless hours of work into planning their campaigns and their ask for this wonderful global celebration. According to this info graphic on year-end fundraising from Nonprofit Hub, November is the month where nonprofits transition from planning to initiating their year-end plans–and there is much at stake in successfully executing these plans.

Year end giving is the time of year where many nonprofits receive most of their donations, with many bringing in 41% of their total annual income.

And there’s no denying that donor generosity is at it’s highest at this time of the year, as people look to take advantage of giving without any restrictions. In fact, 91% of donors who completed Charity Navigator‘s survey reported that they planned on giving again–either the same amount or more than the previous year.

Although donors are already in a generous spirit, just how successful year-end fundraising turns out to be depends on the tools used to reach donors. And as mentioned in a previous post, providing multiple donation channels offers you more sources of revenue.

No matter what your fundraising strategy may be and no matter what plan you have in effect, reaching your donors through multiple channels is the most effective way to execute it.

DIRECT MAIL has been–and continues to be–a preferred fundraising tool, especially for year-end fundraising. But email, website, in person, and even social media are catching up. Current trends shows that ONLINE GIVING, probably due to its convenience, is stronger during the holidays than other types of giving.

Other findings from Nonprofit Hub’s survey include successes using the following:

• personalized letters
• pre-event registration, and
• social media

Common difficulties experienced were:

• too many emails, and
• getting lost in the shuffle

The point is that it’s possible for nonprofits to find success using any one of these many different giving methods. But when relying on only ONE channel, every organization’s message or appeal runs the risk of being swallowed up in the holiday craze of all the other organizations with a similar goal in mind.

The solution?

Offer multiple fundraising channels. 

So your email is getting lost among emails broadcasting a Black Friday or Christmas sale or among other similar, equally well crafted messages from other nonprofits your donor might support.

So your direct mail ends up in the trash with the mound of holiday coupons and shopping pamphlets.

Or perhaps your tweet or Facebook post is buried under the tweets and posts of your donor’s festive, enthusiastic friends and families.

In person events may seem reliable, since you have a chance to deliver your ask face-to-face. But your communication attempts to get donors there in the first place face the same problem–your donors just might miss the message through all the holiday clutter.

It may seem like an excess amount of work that your organization just does not have time for–having to craft messages to send out via email, social media, direct mail, even text-message. But in reality, your message remains the same. You can still tell the same story, use the same graphics, and incorporate the same ask. In fact, this consistency will help strengthen your campaign. All you must do is to simply rephrase your message to fit the voice of different channels. And in most cases, this means shortening it (think Twitter or Facebook).

Executing your year-end campaign through multiple channels is only slightly more work than what you’ve already put in, but the increased benefits are huge. So now that you’ve worked so hard to plan a great campaign, make it count!