Four Things Your Year-End Donor Call Needs

You know the hesitation you have right before you look up a donor’s name and get ready to dial their number?

It’s an extremely common one. You know you should call them. Of course you should call them! But you also know what the donor might be thinking when your name shows up on their phone: Here comes the ask.

That hesitation is understandable. By October, your donors’ inboxes are already starting to fill up with year-end appeals, and they know what many of those emails are going to ask them to do. The last thing you want is for your call to feel like another version of the same thing.

Your donors hear from plenty of organizations asking for money, but they hear from far fewer organizations calling simply to tell them what their generosity has made possible—or even ask how they’re doing.

That’s what makes an October check-in call so valuable. You have a chance to strengthen the relationship before the year-end rush, learn something important about your donor, and make the conversation you eventually have about giving feel much more natural.

The good news is it doesn’t need to be complicated. A good check-in call has four parts, and none of them requires you to make an ask...

Why the Check-In Call Matters in October

One of my favorite approaches at this time of year is what I think of as the “smile and dial.” You pick up the phone with no agenda beyond gratitude and connection.

That can feel almost too simple. But when you take the pressure off the conversation, donors are often surprised when they realize you aren’t calling to ask for anything.

“Wait, you’re just calling to say thank you?”

Yes. That’s the point.

Sometimes, a donor will actually make a gift within a couple of weeks anyway. But even when they don’t, you’ve accomplished something important. You’ve reminded them that there’s a real person on the other end of the relationship, you’ve brought your organization back to the front of their mind, and you’ve created a positive interaction before November and December arrive.

That’s the strategic value of the October call. Instead of asking for a gift, you’re making sure that when your donor starts thinking about where their money should go at year-end, your organization is already part of that conversation in their mind.

What to Say on a Donor Check-In Call

You don’t need a script that tells you exactly what to say for the next 20 minutes. Think about the call as four simple pieces that give the conversation some structure while leaving plenty of room for your donor to talk.

1. Thank them for their partnership

Start with something specific. Tell them how long they’ve been giving, what they’ve supported, or what their partnership has meant to the organization.

Instead of saying, “I just wanted to thank you for your support,” you might say: “I was looking at your giving history and realized you’ve been with us for almost eight years. I wanted to call and thank you personally for the way you’ve continued to support this work.”

That demonstrates that you actually know something about the person you’re calling.

2. Share one story that shows what they made possible

This is where a You Made A Difference (YMAD) story can be incredibly powerful.

Rather than giving your donor a broad organizational update or telling them, “We served 4,000 people this year,” give them one person, one moment, or one outcome that shows what their support made possible.

And make it recent. A story that happened last week will usually land differently than a story from six months ago that finally made its way through your communications process. Your donors should be hearing about the difference they’re making while that difference is still fresh.

So, tell the story, connect it back to their support, and then get out of the way. You’re giving them the opportunity to see their generosity in action—and that makes a huge difference.

3. Ask what’s changed for them this year

Now turn the conversation toward your donor.

You might ask, “What’s been happening in your world this year?” or “Has anything changed for you or your family that you’d like me to know about?” You could also ask, “Are there any issues or areas of our work that have become more important to you lately?”

Then listen. Pay attention to what gets your donor excited, concerned, or curious. Maybe something has changed in their family, or they’ve become interested in an entirely different part of your organization.

Those details matter because they tell you what the next conversation should be about. In this way, you’re learning how to be a better partner to that donor.

4. Find out how they prefer to hear from you

This is one of those questions that seems small but can make a big difference.

Ask whether they prefer a phone call, an email, or an occasional visit. Then ask how often they’d like to hear from you. It shows that you respect their time, and it gives you a much better sense of how to reach them when an important conversation comes up.

The Closing Question That Makes December Easier

There’s one more thing I’d add to the end of the call, especially if you think there may be an opportunity to talk with this donor about giving later in the year.

“I’d love to come back to you later this year and talk about how you might help with something I think you’d really care about. Would that be alright?”

Notice what you’re doing here. You aren’t asking for a gift. You’re asking for permission to have a future conversation. That small distinction can change the entire dynamic.

Compare that with calling the same donor in December after months of silence. You introduce yourself, start talking about your year-end needs, and immediately feel the donor’s guard go up.

In the other version, you call and say, “I mentioned I'd come back to you about this a few months ago.” You’ve already established the context—now the donor knows why you’re calling, and you’ve given them an opportunity to say yes to the conversation before you ever get there.

It also gives you some flexibility. Maybe December gets crazy and you only have 20 minutes. That’s OK. You’ve already done the relationship-building work that makes a shorter conversation meaningful.

Three Mistakes to Avoid

The first mistake is turning the check-in into an ask. Even a soft, “We’d love to have your continued support this year” changes the purpose of the call. If you said the call was about gratitude and connection, let it be about gratitude and connection.

The second is leading with organizational statistics instead of a story. Your donor doesn’t need another quarterly report. Give them something human that helps them understand the difference they helped create.

And finally, don’t only call the donors who feel easy. It’s natural to gravitate toward the people with whom you already have a comfortable relationship, especially when your caseload is busy. But those high-value donors you feel nervous about calling can’t stay at the bottom of the list simply because the conversation feels harder. They deserve the same attention, and often more of it.

What to Do After You Hang Up

The call itself is only part of the work.

Take a few minutes to write down what your donor told you, using their own words whenever possible. Those words can become incredibly useful later when you’re developing an offer that connects their interests with a specific opportunity to give.

Then set a target date for the next conversation. If you know you want to talk about a gift in November, work backward from that date and give yourself enough time to prepare.

And if you promised to send a story, an update, or anything else during the call, follow through quickly. A YMAD story that arrives two weeks after you promised it doesn’t have the same impact as one that shows up while the conversation is still fresh.

Ready for the Conversation That Comes Next?

If you’re not sure what happens or how to handle the call when you come back to that donor in November, our Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers can help!

You’ll learn how to use Permission-Based Asking™, build a personal offer around what matters to each donor, ask for a specific amount, and navigate the conversation that follows with confidence.

The October cohort starts October 19 and runs for eight weeks, with templates and scripts, live support calls, lifetime access to the course materials, and 29 CFRE credits.

If you’re ready to turn those October conversations into stronger year-end fundraising, now is a good time to get started.