It may be far too early in the year to assess any new fundraising trends for 2019. But we do know that for ongoing fundraising efforts, the new tax law in effect since 2018 may impact giving trends. For onetime fundraising efforts, the tax law changes may not really have any impact. As onetime fundraisers are typically focused on a particular effort, i.e. sending a group of high schoolers on a mission trip -- or raising money for new uniforms for a club team before the season starts. And supporters may have the desire to contribute to the cause and do not care about any tax benefits. However, ongoing fundraising efforts throughout the year may be impacted more by any tax law changes that eliminated write-offs for your donors who may no longer be able to itemize charitable deductions.

So how do you know? Well, in this age of analytics it pays to look at your year-over-year data and look for changes in funds raised to see if you are able to identify trends or spot any noticeable differences.  And if you do see any drop off in money raised, you will need to address this issue.

Think about ways to continue to recognize, encourage and engage your supporters, if especially if you have an Inspire.World online store site and want to encourage repeat purchases:

• Always acknowledge a first-time contribution with an email or text to the supporter.
• Place your first-time supporters on a special list to receive follow-up emails from you that explain more about your organization and your fundraising cause. 
• Send all of your supporters timely reminders of the ongoing fundraising effort and your goal.
• Send all of your supporters updates via emails/texts of key fundraising milestones reached along the way.
• Make them all feel valued and a key part of your fundraising effort as a supporter of your cause.

If you are primarily involved in ongoing fundraising, it really pays off to know your supporter retention rate. If you don’t know, run a report and figure out your baseline. Is the percentage of supporters you keep year-over-year at an acceptable level for your organization?

Think about ways to re-engage those that have dropped off:

• Sending a friendly email, something like: “We’ve missed you -- is it something I said?” It may set the right tone to re-engage them. Make them feel seen, valued and heard. They are important to you, asking for their support at even a scaled back level is important.
• Think about setting an easy electronic monthly contribution mechanism to make ongoing contributions as painless as possible.

Looking for trends early in 2019 will put you ahead of the pack. You want to be informed, prepared and nimble so you are able to respond and move forward.

Remember we at Inspire.World are here to help!