With only a few days to go until Valentine's Day, the hunt is on for that perfect gift for all the special someones out there! If you're a nonprofit organization always looking to find ways to reach your donor base, it's smart to take a page from retailers making a last-minute Valentine's Day fundraising push with email blasts.

Take a look at the picture above - these companies know the value of giving, and they know how to communicate it to their customers.

Does your charity make it easy for people to make an online donation to honor a loved one, rather than buy a material gift?

Many people prefer to receive a meaningful gift, rather than flowers or chocolates for special occasions.

Mike Matchett, director for marketing for the Heifer International Project, agreed in an interview with The New York Times: "They say, 'I don't want to give my uncle something that he'll return.' I think most people don't need another sweater."

After all, tribute giving doesn't have to just be something done "in memoriam" - it can also be a meaningful gift that does double the good for the giver and the receiver. Not only are you encouraging people to make a difference by choosing to support your charity, but you could extend awareness of your cause to a potentially new donor base - the gift recipients!

A great way to encourage tribute giving - especially around holidays such as Valentine's Day - is to have eCards available for your donors to send out. You can have a number of them set up with your nonprofit's branding, but it's also super important to allow donors to customize their own eCards.

After all, if they're going to be sending them to their loved ones to notify them of the donation made in their name, they should have the option to add their comments, or even upload their own photos!

As you approach a traditional gift-giving holiday, don't forget to send out a last-minute email blast to your database to remind your donors that the eCard option is available. If they're scrambling to find a gift, they might just be receptive to choosing something more meaningful rather than material.

(P.S. Inside our peer to peer campaign platform, eCards are easy to set up - talk to your Account Manager to find out how or schedule a demo with us!)

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