The ability to diversify funding is on every charity’s wish list—and doing it throughout the year rather than waiting until year-end is an approach that will help drive your overall funding efforts.

“Nonprofits have many opportunities to diversify their giving throughout the year so they aren’t so dependent on year-end fundraising. As evidenced by giving days like #GivingTuesday and end-of-fiscal year campaigns in June, nonprofits have the opportunity to drive donor behaviour by shifting their fundraising strategies,” says Steve MacLaughlin, Director of the Idea Lab at Blackbaud and author of the 2013 Charitable Report.

So what steps can your organization take to drive funding throughout the year? The report suggests the following:

• Run campaigns around organizational milestones (anniversary, etc.).
• Test major campaigns earlier in the year—don’t place your bets on year-end.
• Implement a monthly giving program.
• Go where other organizations aren’t—the mailbox is less crowded at other times of the year.

Blackbauds’s 2013 Charitable Giving Report takes information from the Blackbaud Index to provide an analysis of overall and online giving in the US nonprofit sector.