Ep. 170: The Rule-Breaker’s Guide to Year-End Fundraising
EPISODE 170
The Rule-Breaker’s Guide to Year-End Fundraising
About the Episode:
If you’re done following the same old fundraising playbook, the polite one that keeps your goals small and your growth stuck, this episode is your permission slip to break the rules.
In The Rule-Breaker’s Guide to Year-End Fundraising, I share how safe, “board-approved” strategies are quietly capping your potential, and how modern fundraisers are rewriting the rules to build momentum, trust, and record-breaking campaigns. You’ll hear how one of my clients ran two back-to-back campaigns that both exceeded goals by leading with authenticity, urgency, and story, not fear or etiquette. Because the truth is, safe doesn’t scale. It’s time to stop waiting for approval, stop softening your message, and start leading with conviction. Rule breakers don’t just raise more money, they raise more energy, excitement, and impact.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Why playing it safe keeps your campaigns stuck on repeat
The biggest lie in year-end fundraising (and what to do instead)
How to release the “parking brake” on your campaigns and gain real traction
What modern, momentum-driven fundraising looks like
How one client ran two campaigns in a row, and hit both goals
Why innovation looks risky until it works (and then everyone copies it)
How to stop fundraising like it’s 2005 and lead with courage instead
It’s not your stories—it’s how you’re telling them. If your amazing work isn’t getting the attention (and donations) it deserves, it’s time for a messaging shift. The Brave Fundraiser’s Guide guide gives you 10 done-for-you donor prompts to make your message impossible to ignore. Get it for free here! https://christinaedwards.krtra.com/t/xKuLs6tOiPZa
Christina’s Favorite Takeaways:
“Waiting is just a fancy way of saying playing it safe. Playing it safe doesn't raise money-it just repeats last year's numbers in a slightly different font.”
“Nonprofits that rise every year aren't the ones that play by the book; they're the ones that write their own rules.”
“Showing up often, authentically and unapologetically, builds momentum, not fatigue.”
“You can't scale modern results to big results, brave results, fast results, on a vintage system.”
“Safe doesn't scale.”
“You can't innovate and seek approval at the same time.”
“The old playbook was written for a world that doesn't exist anymore.”
“Beige campaigns don't move people; they disappear in the inbox.”
“Playing it safe isn't protecting your mission, it's actually limiting it.”
“Innovation looks risky until it works; then everybody copies it.”
Episode Resources:
FREE Resources from Splendid Consulting:
How to Work with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
Double Your Donations - Raise More From Your Laptop Without Chasing Grants or Galas
Easy Emails For Impact™ - Turn Your Inbox into an Income Stream
Donations on Demand: Build a $5K Email Campaign System in 30 min/week
The SPRINT Method™ - Fundraise Like a Pro, 5 Figures At a Time
Connect with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
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*Links may be affiliate links which means I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Christina Edwards 0:16Today's episode is for the Rule Breakers if you're ready to stop playing it so safe. Start Stop repeating the same playbooks again and again, and really make this year end the biggest, most record breaking fundraising season, which then means the biggest, most record breaking season of impact for your mission. Today's episode is for you.
Christina Edwards 0:46
before we dig in, I have a quick ask for you, dear listener. So many of you have reached out, and I've met so many of you on decision calls, on webinars and email, and it's always so fun to meet a listener. So my ask for you this year end is, if you haven't already, would you please rate and review the podcast that helps the podcast be seen and heard by more Rule Breakers who need this work just like you. So take a minute. You can go into your podcast player and you can rate and review the podcast. If you don't know how to do that, just find me on LinkedIn or over on @splendidconsulting, over on Instagram, and I'd be happy to share a screenshot to share how to do that with you.
All right, let's dig in to today's episode. So if you're running the same exact campaign you did last year, just kind of updating a few headlines and a few dates, maybe it's the same email, same kind of event, same theme, same timeline. This episode is your permission slip to stop playing it safe, because playing it safe doesn't grow your funding. It actually keeps you stuck with the same results year after year. At best, what I see time and time again in the season we are in which is like more fast paced, more distracted than ever when you're just re kind of regurgitating the same old playbook. I see plateaus happen, but I see even more often dips happen in revenue. Okay, so today we're talking about what it actually looks like to break the old fundraising rules, the ones that make you overthink, the ones that make you delay and shrink your goals, and how modern nonprofits are creating excitement, momentum and legacy level giving by doing the opposite.
So let's dig into the biggest lie. The biggest lie in Year End fundraising is that you should wait, wait to ask, wait for the right timing, wait until you've cultivated enough. But the truth is, waiting is just a fancy way of saying playing it safe. And playing it safe doesn't raise money. It just repeats last year's numbers in a slightly different font. It's a very phoning it in. Think about this, if your boat never rocks, the boat never moves, okay? The boat is just sitting there in the middle of the ocean when it could be moving. Playing it safe is like driving with a parking brake on. And many of you come to me, and you know this, you're not unaware that the parking brake feels on. It feels literally like a grind, like a slog, to bring in new donors, to upgrade current donors, and to really get the same results that your tactics used to get you, because you feel like you're technically moving and you are but you're not going anywhere new. So today we're talking about, how do we release that parking brake and really see some traction? The reason why I see so many nonprofits stay stuck is the fear of rocking the boat. Because we're taught not to, quote, unquote, bother donors or boards not to be too pushy. We don't want to sound like we're begging all the time, right? So don't launch too often. Don't ask too often. Don't ask for more. Because what if you just turn the donor off and they don't give again at all. They leave. It's so fear and scarcity ridden mentality. So what is the outcome of that follow the rules? One, direct mail letter. One, maybe two, Giving Tuesday emails. Except some of y'all finally caught wind that on Giving Tuesday we actually do see an influx of emails. So now everybody's doing the influx of emails. It's still that follow the leader energy, right? One hopeful post that maybe somebody sees, one SMS text. It's a very one with me. It's very polite and very forgettable. Now, it may sound strategic, but really, you're just avoiding your boldest, bravest ask, right? You're avoiding that risk.
Christina Edwards 5:06
Because remember, if the boat never rocks, the boat never moves, every December can turn into fundraising Groundhog Day. Same letter, same story, slightly different tagline, same results At best. When I ask nonprofits coming to me in this exact predicament where we're like, we've got to figure something out. We know we're too heavily reliant on grant funding, or we know we're what we're doing just isn't working anymore. I'll ask, what's your year end plan? Walk me through, and I often hear kind of a pause and a sigh and, well, we sent a letter we'll post forgiving Tuesday. The problem is that's not a plan, that's a hope, a fingers crossed, a prayer. It's certainly not a strategy, and it's if I'm not excited about it, you're not excited about it, your donors and your prospects are definitely not excited about it. You with me now, according to MNR benchmarks report more than 26% of all annual giving happens in December, but most nonprofits don't actually start asking consistently and see that momentum until mid December. So waiting until mid December, or even December at all is like opening your retail store on December 20 and wondering why no one's buying. Think about it. Think about this particular holiday season. When did you start even just dipping your toe into holiday shopping? Was it before Halloween? When did you first go? Ooh, I bet my mother in law would like that. Or I want to buy this for my son. Or, you know what I want for Christmas? You kind of started making your own list. Or own list. Or when did you start getting those cozy moments of like, I can't wait to put our tree out, or however you like to celebrate? Or when did you walk into a store or receive your first email, or your first anything about the holidays? If you're like me, it was before Halloween. These brands are smart. They know they are leaving breadcrumbs for us as buyers, as prospects, right? Meanwhile, nonprofits are like, listen, we don't want to irritate the buyers, the air quote, We don't want to bug them, and all you're doing is missing out on building that momentum, building that ripple effect, building that funding.
Christina Edwards 7:30
And that's why the nonprofits that rise every year aren't the ones that play by the book. They're the ones that write their own rules. They take that me energy out of it. They take that fear energy out of it, and they ask, what's best for the donor, what's best for the organization, what's best for the people or communities we serve. It is not one letter, one email, 1,1,1, you with me. It is not beige and soft and quiet. It is modern, momentum driven campaigns. This is what we teach in both of my programs, in the purpose and profit Club, which is made for ambitious teams who are scaling up to a million and beyond. This is also what we teach in the sprint method, where we're teaching founders and solo led nonprofits to raise 10k in every single campaign, because Rule Breakers think differently.
Christina Edwards 8:31
They know that showing up often, authentically and unapologetically, builds momentum, not fatigue. It keeps your organization your mission top of mind. It's not that people are annoyed by you. In fact, they're just more connected to you.
Christina Edwards 8:53
They create and launch fundraising campaigns that feel alive with story, with urgency, with a specific voice. It doesn't sound like another appeal. It doesn't sound like a one off. It sounds like an invitation to be part of something bigger. And they don't wait for the perfect timing. They create it. They create it. So most nonprofits may be fundraising with this old operating system, right? They're running on Windows 2005 right, which turns on technically, technically, it could still work. I have think about your first laptop or your second like I remember them. They just kept getting they were like bricks. They were like my first laptop was like a physical brick, and then it was like half the width of a brick, right? I could probably make that bad boy work, right? But think about how clunky it would be to use today, right? That that laptop was used to dial up, or it was used to some sort of slow internet. It has some terrible way to navigate the web, right? It technically works, but that doesn't mean that's what you should use, and it's not built for modern fundraising, right? Because you can't scale modern results. To big results, brave results, fast results, on a vintage system, one of my clients recently had like, two major needs come up. She had a campaign that was already pre planned, like locked loaded, beautiful. It followed our strategy to create a high converting fundraising campaign, all from home, all from her laptop, right? Not with any big in person events, not with, you know, anything extra, right, just the high converting campaigns that we teach inside the club. And then she ran that campaign. But then had another need, like boom, come up immediately.
Christina Edwards 13:02
The old rule says you just ran a campaign now you need to rest, cultivate report. You certainly can't run another campaign. You just ask your audience to donate. They won't donate again. And I understand that the fear is there. The challenge is real, right? We wouldn't typically say just run campaigns back to back to back to back and back. And also, let's break some rules. And also, what else is true here? What's true about your donors, they're generous. What's true about your donors? They want to help. What's true about your donors? It's not your job to make decisions for them. It's your job to invite them in, right? So we created the first campaign, which knocked it out of the park, then the second thing came up, right? And so we created a very specific. Story that went ahead and addressed that concern in the story. Okay, you go towards the thing that you're scared of, not away from it. So run towards the objection, run towards and address the concern you feel like your donors might have if you're thinking it, maybe they're thinking it too. Who knows? So we were able to do that within the story and tell a bigger story of why this fundraiser needed to happen.
Christina Edwards 15:34
she ended up hitting her goal for the second campaign very, very quickly, because that's what happens when you lead with that energy, that honesty, that excitement, instead of etiquette, it didn't annoy donors. No one got mad about it. It activated them. Okay. So you might be thinking, Christina, that sounds exhausting. I can't even begin to even think about planning a campaign back to back. It's only exhausting when you don't have a system. It's only exhausting when every time you run a campaign, you're starting from scratch. We teach a process so it's actually very, very quick to run a campaign like my clients can run a campaign using our 30 minute campaign builder. In 30 minutes, that's it. It's actually not time heavy. It's not exhausting. It's exciting. When your message is bold and clear, you're inviting people into something meaningful. So that's not draining your energy. I actually think it's creating it. And instead of the pressure that Oh shit, moment of this particular organization going, oh my god, we just fundraise, but like now we have this other need over here, and it's not enough, and there's just not like we need another fundraiser that's a real panic moment. And instead of just taking the panic, and, I don't know, white knuckling it through the next six weeks of report back, right and and no ask, right? Instead creating that energy, that excitement, by telling your audience the true thing and inviting them to help, actually takes away the stress, actually takes away that panic, because again, people will rise to that occasion. Remember, safe doesn't scale. Safe doesn't scale. The best clients I work with have this single trade, right? They don't give up. They're relentless. They have this grit. We had an entire series about this, right? They have that healthy delusion. And when I say best clients, I just simply mean they're Rule Breakers, right? They follow what we teach in the club, they follow what we teach in this Rent Method, and they are relentless in in their mission. They know they're going to hit their goals. It's just a matter of putting in the reps. That's it. They're authentic. They're iterate, iterative. They try new things. They don't wait for Board approval to send a heartfelt post. They don't wait, fingers crossed on a grant they might not get that 1000 other organizations also applied for they keep moving, testing, learning, asking, that relentlessness, done with generosity, done with a growth mindset. It's not grind. It's what sets them apart. You can't innovate and seek approval at the same time. Think about that. How would somebody, well, think of the iPhone. How could he have created the iPhone? Steve Jobs created the iPhone. That innovation, right? While also going, do you think this is a good idea? Do you think this is a good idea? What do you think I'm not going to do any, take any action and invest in this until everybody, collectively says, this is a good idea. Nothing would have been invented. The light bulb, the car, right? Vaccines, like, there's so many things that would have wouldn't have been invented without that innovation, without that rule breakers mindset, it is so, so so clear to me that it is your secret weapon, and it is something for you to cultivate and develop, and have a program of other champions and fundraisers who are also trying to do that so you can have community with them. That's why I love what I do so much, because they're also putting in the reps with you. And so they know this is hard work, but this is hard work you're committed to doing, right? I built my whole career breaking the so called nonprofit rules, because the old playbook, the old school way to do it, was written for a world that doesn't exist anymore. We have the technology to rise to what donors want. Donors move faster. Attention spans are shorter. Retention rates still hover between. At 20 and 43% okay, depending on where you pull it from, that means half of last year's donors won't come back unless you stand out, unless you have a plan for them, unless you are different. Don't be the normal nonprofit that is seeing that level of churn, right, that is playing it safe instead break some rules, right? So stop fundraising like it's 2005 and even maybe this episode helped you see you didn't even realize you were doing it right. You didn't realize you were playing it safe. You didn't realize you were playing it small, right?
Christina Edwards 20:42
And maybe you'll see some areas that you can pull away from. What I'm calling the board approved beige rules, right? And it might feel more comfortable to play inside those lines. But beige campaigns don't move people. They disappear in the inbox. You know them. Those are the ones you delete. You delete them before you even realize it. Those sales emails, those promo emails, those fundraising emails, right? Those campaigns that you scroll past, right? Those text messages, those messages, they're just like you. They're forgettable, right? And so that cohesiveness, that waiting for approval, that's part of this whole thing that's keeping you stuck. So I hope the takeaway for you is that playing it safe isn't protecting your mission, it's actually limiting it. This is your permission slip to stop asking for permission. Break the rules. Start with one thing. Start with a bold story. Start by running that campaign again. Start by running that campaign differently. Start by running that campaign longer. Start by asking for a donor match for something you've never asked before. Start by asking a donor for a second gift in the same calendar year. Start by asking a donor to give more and to give again. Right post again, tell the story again. Have that relentless commitment to it, because when you show up with that conviction, people don't tune you out. They rally.
Christina Edwards 22:20
Yeah. And you know what's funny about innovation and being a trailblazer, being a rule breaker, innovation looks risky until it works, then everybody copies it and they're like, slow clap. Great idea, right? So you have to remind yourself that is that flywheel. That is how that goes. It looks risky until it works, and then everybody copies it. So if you want to learn how to run campaigns like this, if you want the support to really become a rule breaker in the best way possible, to make this the most profitable year end and have the support and the system to do it, I highly recommend joining me inside the purpose and profit club that is for nonprofit scaling teams. We typically have the development and marketer inside that program, or the executive director and another staffer inside that program. Or if you're a newer or emerging nonprofit, the sprint method is the perfect place for you. Okay, you can find out more by clicking the link in our show notes, because that's where Rule Breakers raise faster, smarter and braver. I'll see you next time you.