Get your charity’s Christmas campaign wrapped up early

There’s no time like the present!

The sun may be shining (for the moment), but now is the perfect time to start thinking about your 2024 Christmas campaign. It’s like getting all your gifts organized ahead of the mad rush in the city centre, leaving you feeling smug and cozy at home while everyone else trudges out in the cold.

Get organised and alleviate that stress. Read on to gain the Killer perspective on how to attract and engage supporters during the festive period and beyond.

Make Them Laugh, Make Them Cry, Make Them Act

Emotion in fundraising is a superpower. At Killer, we believe in making people truly feel something. People forget facts, figures and numbers, but they never forget the way someone (or, in this case a charity) makes them feel. Our focus is on creating a deep emotional response, making your cause more memorable. Most importantly, it makes them more likely to act. Emotion without action means nothing, but you can’t have one without the other. What are we asking supporters to do, and what makes them act now? Creating this urgency (why now?) should be the question we ask ourselves about every campaign.

Our campaign for Action for Children focused on empowering supporters to become a child’s Secret Santa, meaning that every child is safe and warm at Christmas.

Christmas Feel-Good Vibes

For many traditional appeals, an emotional connection has meant shocking or upsetting potential supporters through an unrelenting focus on the negative. This can be successful for many charities in terms of short-term results, but for us, the storytelling and creativity quickly becomes limited. We want more. We want our supporters to feel good about the brand; to feel the recognition and the impact they can make. Positive impact never limits us in terms of creative campaigns from storytelling. It’s unlimited.

Our goal is to make our audience feel good, enjoy the experience of supporting; whether it’s a vulnerable child, animal or an older person. We want them to enjoy the moment and share how this makes them feel. To do this we need to make them feel positively about what they’re doing, showing the tangible difference they are making.

At Killer, we believe that a longer-term supporter relationship comes from creating this positive experience. We are in the business of creating hope and showing supporters (and potential supporters) the role that they can play in this. A Christmas appeal should start a relationship of mutual trust, where the supporter feels good about giving, and your subsequent communications make them feel even better.

Think Creatively

There are so many ads out there that look the same. At Killer, creativity runs through everything we do. We believe in being bold. There are no prizes for blending in. Creating standout creative that sets you apart is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. It’s why our charity partners come to us and stick with us.

This creativity doesn’t start and end with the TV ad or DM, it is part of every aspect of the campaign. For us, this means thinking creatively about your proposition, the way we buy media, even the way we ask for donations.

Remember this creativity can come from anywhere, but you need to know how to harness it. Maybe it’s a quote from a beneficiary, a volunteer or even a supporter. Used correctly, it can set your campaign apart and create an emotional connection (and response) which smashes your targets.

I Never Knew That

We create memorable creative campaigns that draw our audience into our charity partners’ world with an intriguing and compelling story unique to the charity and the children (dogs, patients…) it’s helping. We like to tell our audience something they don’t know. We believe every campaign should have the ‘I never knew that’ moment. Start thinking about this now, gathering stories, footage and quotes throughout the year that add credibility and standout. Ask yourself honestly, is it interesting? Does it matter? Is it true? If the answer is yes, yes and yes, then we have the start of a campaign.

Your Christmas campaign is just the start of the journey. Together we can help you create lifetime value beyond the festive season.

From a simple ‘thank you’ in January, to other ways to support across the year; whether that’s through Regular Giving, taking part in an event, or pledging a gift in their will. Take your supporters on a journey that lasts a lifetime, and beyond.

Because a supporter is for life, not just for Christmas.

Our Successes

2023 was a great year for Killer Christmas campaigns. It was our second year working with Action for Children on the award-winning ‘Secret Santa’ campaign. The income raised for this appeal has blown us away. And there must have been something in the air (probably all the months of hard work), as appeals for Evelina London Children’s Charity and Home-Start UK also delivered outstanding results.

The fundraising landscape at Christmas is tough – and to get cut-through (and donations) appeals need a strong focus. These campaigns place supporters at their heart, with direct asks that work as part of beautiful, integrated appeals.

If this article resonates with you, why not speak to us? Perhaps we can tell you something you never knew…