In recent years, religious organizations have faced a concerning trend. While fewer households are giving to nonprofits, reports like the GivingUSA “Shifting Landscape of American Generosity” highlight a steeper decline in giving to religious organizations than secular ones. This trend is further echoed in The Giving Gap, which underscores a significant drop in charitable contributions to churches and faith-based charities.
Based on these trends, we wanted to determine if Christian holidays incentivize people to give. Do Easter and Christmas make people feel more inspired to donate, or are meals and year-end matches enough to keep giving high?
Do holidays encourage people to give more?
After running several tests with our ministry partners, we discovered that Christian holidays make a difference. When appeals included Easter or Christmas messages, donations went up. These holidays continue to inspire generosity.
Here’s what we saw in our tests:
- Easter messages make a difference: Client A saw donations go down by 11% when we took out Easter-themed messages. For Client B, they went down by 32%. For both clients, the change in the two packages was whether we referred to the offer as “meals” or as “Easter meals.”
- Christmas beats year-end appeals: Client C saw donations go down by 13% and Client D by 10% when we replaced Christmas messaging with a year-end one. We even tested different styles, like a meals-focused appeal versus a more formal year-end letter; in this case, the Christmas meals appeal did 33% better than the year-end one.
Which art style works best?
We also tested different kinds of art to see which one raised more money:
- Offer/meals-focused art: This package showed holiday food images that aligned with the holiday meals offer.
- Holiday-focused art: This replaced the meals art with holiday images like crosses, lilies, or Easter eggs.
Every time, the meals-focused art won. People gave more when they saw images that showed exactly what their donations would do. Even though they liked the holiday themes and language, they responded more to pictures showing food than holiday-themed art.
Tips for holiday appeals
If you’re planning a holiday appeal, here are some simple tips to help boost donations:
- Show real impact: Use pictures and stories that show what donations will provide, like meals or other services. Donors need to see how their gift helps others.
- Use holiday themes as a boost, not the main message: Holiday themes add urgency with a deadline and relatability, but don’t let them replace the main appeal. Keep the focus on what donors’ gifts will do, and use holiday elements as the driver of urgency in the message.
- Connect with the holidays, but prioritize clarity: Easter and Christmas allow you to connect on a deeper level with your donors. Just remember to keep your call to action clear so donors know exactly how they can help.
The power of holidays when paired with tangible impact
Easter and Christmas hold considerable power to inspire generosity; leverage these holidays as a backdrop for appeals, but remember to remain focused on tangible impact.
As you plan your next holiday campaign, know that the spirit of the season is a powerful motivator — but that clarity and immediacy in your messaging are what turn that motivation into action. By striking this balance, you can encourage donations and deepen your donors’ connection to your mission.
