Your charity's winter appeal: what to sort before December hits

4 Sept

Autumn has a horrible habit of flying by, and the charities who start their winter thinking now are the ones who aren't writing appeal copy at 11pm in late November (we've all been there, no judgement).

December is the biggest month for UK giving, and 12 December (my birthday, no less) was the single most popular day for festive donations in 2024, making up 5.5% of the month's total giving according to Enthuse's Christmas Giving Insights report.

If you’ve not started planning yet: don’t panic, you’ve still got time.

Here's where I'd focus my energy:

Start early, and don't rely on social alone‍ ‍

Engagement on social tends to drop off as December goes on, especially once people start switching off for the holidays and putting their phones down (good for them, less good for your reach).

If your winter campaign leans mainly on social, you risk losing momentum right when it matters most. Start earlier than feels natural, and make sure social isn't your only mechanism. Email, direct mail, and any offline touchpoints you've got will carry more weight as the month wears on.

Consider the language you use

I've always favoured "winter appeal" over "Christmas appeal" where I can, and lean on the word "winter" in messaging more generally. It doesn't mean dropping Christmas content altogether, it just means your campaign doesn't quietly leave out supporters and beneficiaries who don't celebrate Christmas, or for whom the festive period isn't a particularly happy time.

Small language choice, genuinely different feeling for whoever's reading it.

Be mindful of winter stresses, not just the ask‍ ‍

Winter isn't just Christmas for a lot of your audience. It's also fuel costs, heating bills, and the sharpest edge of the cost of living. Read the room before you send appeal after appeal.

If your supporters are also worrying about their own heating bill, piling on the asks can do more harm than good. Sometimes the kindest, most protective thing you can do for a long-term relationship with a donor is simply not over-asking in December, even if it costs you a bit of income in the short term.

Find your timely hook

Before anything else, think about what's genuinely relevant to your cause right now, not just at Christmas but this specific winter.

Age UK's "A Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight" campaign is a great example: built entirely around new research on older people's loneliness at Christmas, it gave the whole appeal a reason to exist beyond "it's December, please donate."

What's the equivalent for your charity? A piece of research, a seasonal reality your beneficiaries face, a stat that makes people stop scrolling. Find that first, and the rest of the campaign gets much easier to write.

Don't stop at 25 December

If someone doesn't give in the run-up to Christmas, is there a New Year ask waiting for them? January's actually a lovely moment for a different kind of campaign, one that taps into resolution season rather than festive spirit.

Family Fund's Give Up, Give Back campaign is such a nice example of this done well, asking people to give up a small daily treat and donate what they'd have spent instead. Low-pressure, genuinely lovely, and works even if someone's already given generously in December.

Don't forget the unglamorous prep

‍Update your donation pages and forms now, while you've actually got time to test them properly. Check your automated thank-you emails still sound like you, not like a robot. If you're running paid social, get your creative and targeting sorted well before December's ad costs spike. None of this is exciting, but all of it will save you a scramble later, I promise.

None of this needs to be perfect yet, it just needs to start. A bit of groundwork now, while autumn still feels manageable, is the difference between a December you're proud of and one you're just trying to survive.