End of Financial Year Fundraising Ideas

As the financial year ends, we're focusing on marketing strategies for EOFY fundraising in Australia.

Here are some ways to improve your marketing efforts, reach your business goals and make a positive impact in your communities. We see ourselves as part of the marketing team, working together to connect with potential and current supporters through successful campaigns. We'd love to connect!

Reporting and analysing previous strategies

Assessing and enhancing your advertising campaign efforts requires evaluating the effectiveness of past strategies. Ensure your charity fundraising and marketing processes include robust reporting and analytics capabilities — these tools enable you to assess the impact of your campaigns and develop data-driven strategies. The ability to create standardised, tailored reports and presentations across multiple channels is essential.

We utilise Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to integrate platforms and generate tailor-made 'Events'. While GA4 offers comprehensive reporting, alternative data-visualisation tools may also be beneficial. We've recently incorporated Agency Analytics and been impressed by its user-friendly interface; other options include Microsoft Power BI and Google Looker Studio. We've used Supermetrics in the past to expand data access, but recently transitioned away for two reasons:

1. Additional capabilities in GA4.
2. Certain connectors were consistently, and without warning, needing re-connecting — producing and sending reports with broken data.

Other essential tools include Google Search Console and whichever CRM / MarTech system you're working with. Please note: GA4 takes around 24–72 hours to fully populate data.

Use the right marketing tools

Customisation is key to crafting a tailored, distinctive EOFY campaign. Look for software that offers extensive customisation to enable strong campaign management, with automated workflows and customer-journey funnels. When set up correctly, these efficiently deliver personalised messages to the right audience at the right time — and opt for MarTech software that provides real-time, accurate reporting.

We recommend Salesforce Marketing Cloud for enterprise-level and HubSpot for small and midsize businesses. Where possible, we typically recommend working directly in advertising platforms like Google Ads Manager and Meta Ads Manager — their sophisticated attribution models are constantly refined, and their inner workings are typically kept confidential and not accessible to third-party tools. Which platforms to use, and when, should also be considered in the context of a wider supporter experience: your existing audience, how aggressively you want to grow, budget, and desired customer flow.

Target demographics and segment your audience

Understanding your target demographics thoroughly, and considering your audience in every communication, is essential. Use specific campaigns for different groups in your donor base and tailor your messages based on factors like:

• Donation history: when is it appropriate to contact a donor by phone or in person? When should a personal touch be added? When was their last donation, and for how much? Are you sending a "We Miss You" or a "Thank You"?
• Engagement level: are they visiting your website frequently? What's their email open rate? Do they engage on social media or search?
• Supporter type: are they volunteers, members, donors, event attendees, recurring donors or major givers? Do you survey them?
• Personal factors: income, age, location, employment, interests.

Personalised communication can build stronger connections and boost donation prospects.

Explore multiple communication channels

We've talked about this one before. Use various communication methods and content types to expand your donor base and enhance engagement with existing supporters:

• Physical / direct mail
• Email campaigns, informative / transactional emails
• Paid advertising (paid search, paid social, TV, radio, billboards)
• Local media and events
• Ambassadors / influencers
• Social media channels
• School fundraising ideas
• Owned media like your blog and customised landing pages

Follow up

Establish an efficient funnel for leads to progress through, ensuring they receive follow-ups after initial communication. Use automated systems to make the process more efficient:

• Implement abandoned-cart campaigns using automated emails, search, display and social ads — motivate people who've shown intent to donate with incentives to complete the process.
• Show ads to people who visited your website or socials but haven't donated. Use timers, offers and clear calls to action.
• Communicate additional ways donors can contribute — bequests, volunteering, upcoming initiatives and events — and encourage subscriptions to your mailing list.
• Consistently express gratitude, using automated workflows to send personalised messages of appreciation where suitable.

Fundraising tips & techniques

• Use goal-setting methods like 'SMART' — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely — to provide direction and motivate your team.
• Promote peer-to-peer fundraising: encourage supporters to set up their own campaigns, with incentives, resources, guidance and tools.
• Use countdown timers, limited-time offers and strong calls to action to encourage quick action.

Made it to the end? Thank you for taking the time.

We understand that working in this sector takes courage, decisiveness and good old-fashioned grit. We applaud the work you're doing — and we're sure you're doing better than you think. At Broad Reform, we're dedicated to helping non-profit organisations make a lasting difference in their communities. If you're looking for guidance or support with your end-of-year fundraising, please get in touch. Together, let's create meaningful change. Contact us today to get started!