Yesterday Roger gave us an up-close micro-view of how bad year-end online fundraising appeals can be.

But as bad as it gets, there’s no question — looking at the macro-picture — that December sees more cash roll in than any other month as nonprofits do their best (or worst, in some cases) to barrage their poor donors with online appeals.

As reported in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, using Network for Good’s nearly 11,000 user-organizations as a barometer, December 2014 saw 13% more online contributions than December 2013. In dollar terms: $58.3 million raised from November 1st through December 31st, 2014 (almost $10 million on December 31st alone), compared to $52.8 million for the same two-month period in 2013.

Big money. [But don’t jump from the yearly surge in December online giving to a false assumption about December being the best month for overall giving — a myth Roger addresses tomorrow.]

No one does a more thorough job of looking at the macro-picture of year-end online fundraising than Blackbaud’s Steve MacLaughlin. His annual reviews of online year-end giving are priceless.

Here’s Steve’s review for 2014 — 400 More Email Subject Lines from End-of-Year Fundraising.

Steve, bless him, diligently kept track of the 445 email fundraising appeals he received from 74 different nonprofits in December, 28% of them in the last five days of the year. Here’s the distribution pattern:

14 organizations sent him more than 10 messages each; 16 groups only sent one message each (that’s a ‘too little’ headscratcher to Steve); the median was six. The overkill champion sent 23!

What I found most interesting was Steve’s listing of all 445 of the subject lines in his emails. Here’s the word cloud:

Overwhelmingly, the subject lines focused on one form or another of ‘countdown’ … usually tied to an ‘about-to-expire’ matching gift arrangement. I was struck at how very few subject lines were personalized to Steve. Obviously online fundraisers were too busy for such finesse.

Steve did applaud his favorites, with commentary:

Best subject line — Oxfam America (you’ll have to read Steve’s post for the line!);

Best end-to-end campaign — Museum of Modern Art; and,

Best multi-channel effort — The Nature Conservancy.

I know you online fundraisers are just coming off your BIG month. But while your efforts are fresh in mind, I urge you to read Steve’s review.

Steve, I know it’s last year’s work, but you still get The Agitator’s first raise of 2015.

Tom