It’s not quite August yet. But it’s not too early to start thinking about your year-end giving. So, in today’s memo, a few ideas about how to approach things. Last year, I wrote a memo on this topic with the title “Year-End Messaging in a Year Like No Other.”
If anything, this year is even more worthy of that description. I won’t even attempt to catalog all the signal events of this turbulent year. Suffice it to say Year Like No Other Round Two is more than apt.
Here are 10 year-end messaging guidelines that take that reality into account.
1. Set the stage using your messaging between now and year-end.
Your November/December messages shouldn’t come out of nowhere. They should be the crescendo at the end of a conversation with your audiences between now and then. Be deliberate about planting the seeds and building momentum with everything you do and say from this point forward.
2. Realize that November’s elections will have a major impact on your audience’s mood and outlook.
From the moment Trump won in 2024, people have been focused on the midterms as a prime opportunity to, at least in some degree, rein him in. So, in terms of impact on peoples’ year-end mood and sense of possibility, this will feel more like the aftermath of a presidential election. You don’t have to mirror back how people will be feeling, but you can’t ignore it. That’s true whether you’re an advocacy or a charitable organization.
3. But write year-end messages, not post-election ones.
Point #2 taken, remember you’re a nonprofit with a specific mission. You’re not the DNC. So, apply this test to your year-end messages. Make sure they feel like a year-end message that takes peoples’ emotional state into account. Don’t let them read like a post-election missive.
4. Unless you have good news, limit the look back.
The typical year-end strategy is to create a mix of looking back on this year’s challenges and achievements and looking forward to those of the year ahead. The more difficult the year just ending has been, the less appetite people have for a play-by-play recap. So, if you had a signal 2026 achievement, great feature it. But, if it’s been a tough slog of a year, lean more into what’s ahead than what’s behind.
5. Don’t ignore Trump, but only dwell on him if you’re mission demands it.
Trump, his ever more extreme assaults, and his declining hold on popular support have dominated the 2026 public conversation. You know it and so do your audiences. So, we can’t ignore that reality. But you only need to address it in the context of your group’s work. If his impact has been tangential and secondary to your mission, let your messaging reflect that. Only if he has defined your 2026 reality (like, for example, it has for immigration rights groups) should he and his policies be at the center of things.
6. Focus on what’s different in your 2027 work.
We’re living in a world where the Trump outrage of the moment dominates public life. People are weary of the drama and drudgery that entails. That will make them resistant to “more of the same in the year ahead” messaging. So, even if your work centers on the same context, try to feature new approaches, new strategies, new points of view.
7. Acknowledge the confounding reality we’re living in.
Pollyannish content that seeks to ignore the elephant in the room won’t get you very far. So, you need to strike a difficult balance. Find ways to recognize what we’re all going through without leaving your audience mired in it.
8. Advance positive, future-facing ideas.
One way to achieve the balance mentioned above is to combine confronting current realities with advancing affirmative initiatives. That includes putting forward new ideas, but also framing ongoing work in a more positive and less defensive way.
9. Focus on the people bearing the heaviest burden.
The impact of these challenging times is not falling on people in equal proportions. Economically, for example, many groups’ supporters are doing well in 2026 compared to those for whom “affordability” isn’t a political catch phrase but a daily struggle to make ends meet. And that’s to say nothing of people like immigrant communities living in daily fear of an ICE knock on the door.
To the extent it matches your work, draw peoples’ attention to the stories of people who are confronting 2026 challenges with daily acts of courage and fortitude.
10. Honor your audience for hanging in there.
The above point taken into account, it’s also important to acknowledge the dedication of supporters who continue to sustain your group’s work often without the reinforcement of great news and promising achievements in the difficult climate you’re operating in.
With many organizations gathering 40% or more of their annual support in the year-end period, the stakes are high. So don’t leave developing your year-end messaging to later in the year. Start now with a deliberate effort to develop the strongest possible approach. Don’t throw out the successful techniques that have worked in the past. But don’t rely on them to carry the day absent strong accompanying messaging.
P.S. Taking a couple of weeks away. See you again on August 17th!
