Every December, inboxes and ad feeds fill up with urgent, heartfelt pleas. Christmas is still the biggest moment of the year for many fundraising teams—but it’s also the most crowded. And the most stressful.
That’s why the most successful charities don’t wait until the leaves turn brown. They start in June.
Why planning now matters
If your charity relies on end-of-year giving, delaying your planning until autumn creates two major risks:
1. You run out of time to test and learn
With deadlines compressed and teams stretched, there's no time to refine creative, adapt media plans, or act on insights. Campaigns become reactive instead of strategic.
2. You pay more for less impact
December is the most expensive time of year for digital ads. If you don’t already have a performance engine built and audiences primed, you’ll end up spending more just to compete—and still risk underperformance.
Starting now means you can build insight-led strategies, secure creative early, and prime your audiences—well before CPMs rise and inboxes flood.
What early planning enables
We help charities make the most of this vital moment. Starting early means:
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Smart analysis: Learn what worked (and didn’t) last year. Segment audiences, review creative, dig into channel performance.
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Strategic testing: Try new platforms like TikTok or P.Max now, before Q4 pressure hits.
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Creative breathing room: Craft messaging that resonates with your supporters’ motivations - not just what fits in the schedule.
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Optimised media buying: Set up AI rulesets, refine lookalikes, and manage spend more efficiently.
In short, early planning creates space for smarter choices, sharper creative, and stronger results.
Case study: St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity
When St Martin-in-the-Fields came to us, their Christmas budget had shrunk year-on-year. But their ambitions hadn’t.
Through smart data analysis, moment-specific media buying, and content aligned to key touchpoints (like their BBC Radio 4 broadcast), we helped them raise over £340,000, with a +435% return on advertising spend (ROAS).
“Partnering with manifesto has been a game-changer...our 2024 Christmas campaign exceeded expectations, particularly in PPC performance. manifesto consistently brings creativity, innovation, and a focus on continuous improvement."
Case study: Woodgreen
For pets charity, Woodgreen, we used dynamic ad optimisation and behaviour-led creative to scale their Christmas activity - driving a 39% increase in income and a 67% uplift in return on ad spend, even as CPMs rose across Meta.
By using early planning time to build segmented CRM audiences and test content variations, we ensured maximum relevance and minimum wastage.
Let’s plan Christmas, while everyone's still in summer mode
Got at least £50k planned in paid media this festive season? Then now’s the perfect time to get ahead and make this your most strategic Christmas yet.
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Get expert eyes on your plans
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Spot opportunities to drive more impact
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Align your campaigns with real audience insight
Book a free call with one of our strategists today and give your Christmas campaign the head start it deserves.