Tips for Taking Your Tax-Time Campaign Digital

There is no one who looks forward to paying their taxes, but there is no reason to allow the anxiety that comes with completing your return to bring you down this year. Because of advancements in technology, there are a variety of methods by which you can bring your campaign related to filing taxes online, so making the procedure simpler and more effective than it has ever been.

Are you getting ready to launch your campaign during the upcoming tax season? If this is the case, it is imperative that you ensure that your digital strategy is being taken into consideration. The following are some suggestions for accomplishing precisely that!

First things first, check to see that you have a solid website and an established online presence. Because this will serve as the nerve centre of your campaign, you need to ensure that it is well-designed and straightforward to navigate. You should also ensure that each of your social media outlets is active and has the most recent information posted to it.

Second, develop digital ads that are specifically targeted. These will assist you in reaching more people in a certain geographical region or demographic group. Make sure that the messaging in your advertisements is on-target and relevant to the things that people who could vote for you are looking for.

Are you doing your taxes? Of course, you are. After all, it is already April. But even if you aren’t quite finished yet, there is no need to fret – this is especially true if you are trying to take your campaigning at tax time and move it online. You may get your message across to a greater number of people and increase the likelihood of attaining the outcomes you desire if you make effective use of the internet and social media.

Advice On How To Get Your Campaign For Tax Appeal Off The Ground

It is time to start thinking about tax appeal efforts now that we are getting closer to the conclusion of the fiscal year and those all-important tax advantages. The question now is, what can you do to ensure that your campaign stands out from the others? The following are some suggestions for conducting a tax appeal campaign effectively.

Get an Early Start

It is important to start planning your tax appeal campaign far in advance if you want it to be successful. We are already collaborating with a large number of not-for-profit organizations, many of which have already begun formulating their strategies and organizing their tax appeal campaigns for 2018. If you haven’t already begun, you should get started right away; your tax appeal campaign ought to be up and running by the beginning of May at the latest. This will provide your contributors with a sufficient amount of time to make judgments after giving them some consideration.

Utilizing the strength that comes with a digital strategy will also provide you with an advantage in this regard. Faster communication, the ability to collect donations directly through e-commerce platforms, and the use of electronic records to track transactions and expenditures are all factors that contribute to the fact that fundraising in 2018 is a significantly more effective process than it was just ten years ago.

You should make use of this to your advantage, but you should not make the error of going live just a few days before the 30th of June. You should instead ramp up your tax appeal campaign with the immediacy for last-minute donations before your contributors finalize their tax returns by using digital marketing such as social media posts, Facebook advertisements, and email marketing as the 30th of June approaches and you get closer to that day.

Hone your charisma and distinguish yourself from the rest of the competition by doing so

The market for non-profit organizations in Australia is not a particularly small one. According to research conducted by Giving Australia in 2016, about 19.8 million Australians participated in charitable giving, which represents 80.08 percent of the population. The same survey also revealed that corporate philanthropy was on the rise, with major corporations contributing ever-larger sums of money to the industry.

This is already a congested area, and there won’t be any relief in sight any time soon. Keeping this in mind, you need to make an effort to distinguish your tax appeal campaign from the myriad of others that will be thrown at the potential contributors you are seeking. In order to accomplish this, you will need to conduct a comprehensive analysis of your appeal, your target demographics, and the results you anticipate achieving. What is it about your organization’s mission that strikes a chord with people? Why are so many people interested? What steps can you take to capitalize on this opportunity? Responding to these inquiries will set you apart from the other participants.

Maintain Consistency in Your Messages Throughout the Campaign

Let’s have a look at the online presence of The Hunger Project Australia, a charity based in Australia with the mission of putting an end to hunger, poverty, and malnutrition around the world. This is an organization that has put a lot of time and energy into establishing its messaging to ensure that it is aligned with the goals it needs to accomplish.

The fact that 2.5 million Australians are living under or below the poverty line, along with many more millions across the globe who struggle merely to eat on a daily basis, is instantly brought to the attention of visitors. This is a situation that is all too common.

There is statistical evidence to back up this issue, which helps to construct a story of crisis and, ideally, eventual resolution. The Hunger Project then inserts themselves into this story in order to demonstrate how they offer a potential solution to challenges that are both tragic and fundamentally unfair on a home and international scale. The final step in the completion of this narrative is the presentation of facts and resources that demonstrate how previous donations have significantly improved the quality of life for some of the most destitute individuals in the world.

Utilize this strategy in the campaign that you are running. Keep it straightforward and basic, and centre your efforts on developing a constructive narrative in which you offer a solution that can be put into action. The potential donor will feel more connected to you as a result of this action, which is the reward.

Building on this connection with your donors throughout the year is something we would recommend you do. Send this contributor a “thank you” note, and continue to remind them throughout the year how much their donations have been valued and the difference it has made to your organization. Then include these communication contact points into the tax appeal campaign for the next year, and/or work to turn this person into a recurring contributor.

A Clear and Definable Way to Make Donations

Storytelling is an essential component of every online fundraising effort; however, not every narrative needs to be on the same scale as the one that was presented before. In order for a tax appeal campaign to be effective, smaller narratives, in which the potential donor understands exactly what they need to do and how this needs to be accomplished, are essential.

Direct email, social media, and content marketing are at their most successful when accompanied by a call to action that is both crystal clear and compelling. When a donor reads a piece of content, receives an email, or views a post on social media, they need to know immediately and effectively what is going on and how they can help. This information should be communicated in a clear and concise manner. Include links to landing pages or calls to action (CTAs) that are carefully designed to offer potential donors the way to make a donation.

These landing pages need to have thorough engineering done to them as well. According to the statistics, the number of landing pages an organization uses directly correlates to the number of results it sees. This is due to the fact that the landing pages are customized specifically for the campaign, and they should not be a page that simply provides general information about your organization.

The aforementioned realities and guidelines are applicable to any kind of online fundraising effort, but you may also use them for your tax appeal campaign as well.

Deliver Incentives

Building a compelling story is one of the most effective ways to illustrate the difference that a monetary contribution can make, and this topic has already been covered. However, we are capable of going even beyond. Consider what kinds of incentives you might be able to add to your campaign to appeal your tax assessment. If you incorporate video content in your direct emails, for instance, the likelihood that the recipient would take action increases by 200 to 300 percent. Think about thanking donors with a membership to your organization’s newsletter, an eBook, or some other form of ‘present’ from your business. If you spend money making or acquiring these presents, you may be able to deduct the amount that you spent from your taxable income.

Utilize Digital to Its Fullest Potential

When it comes to gathering donations for your tax appeal campaign, we now have access to a plethora of new and innovative options made possible by digital media. Getting the most out of these intriguing platforms is easy if you follow these simple pointers.

Participate actively across all platforms. You will be able to join the discourse taking place online and even lead it if you engage prospects across a variety of social media platforms. Make sure that the visually appealing aspects of what you are doing are showcased on your Facebook and Instagram profiles. Make sure to integrate everything together after you’ve established your presence on social media platforms like Twitter and Pinterest.

Attempt to improve everything. The act of giving has evolved. Customers no longer have to send you a check in the mail or fill out a form to set up a direct debit; they would much rather manage everything online, or even better, on their mobile devices. Keeping this in mind, each and every one of your marketing sites has to be completely optimized for use on mobile devices and tablets.

Make use of the payment platforms that already exist. Both PayPal and Apple Pay have an excellent track record when it comes to trust and safety. Take advantage of this high degree of trust by creating accounts for each individual.

Implement The Lessons Learned From The Campaign From The Previous Year

Be sure to incorporate the lessons learned from the previous year into the preparation of this year’s campaign as well as any ongoing optimizations.

Ask them what they have taken away from the last year. Take, for instance:

• How many donations did you receive and when did you receive them?
• Which demographics delivered a better return on advertising dollars (ROAS) than others?
• Which of the inventive ideas was most successful?
• Which channel had the highest level of success?

Your last-minute optimizations should be guided by these learnings as well as the learnings you make in real-time. These learnings should help you choose which channels, audiences, ad kinds, and creative you need to invest in to push through donations before tax time. Any significant modifications that are made at the very last minute should be guided by a robust testing framework. This should include a test of the hypothesis as well as explicit criteria for success. This might include testing several versions of the ad wording for social media with the same image, testing landing sites for the acquisition of new donors, or testing different dollar handles in your pitch. Increase your focus on the aspects that are producing positive results and reduce your attention to those that are not.

To provide a more personalized experience for each of your audiences, divide them apart

Your first-party audiences, such as prior donors, eDM, Direct Mail lists, and website visitors, should be kept separate from your new acquisition and prospective audience groups.

Your prior donors will always be the ones who are most likely to contribute to your organization; therefore, you should make sure that you are targeting them digital, but you should avoid being overly aggressive with them during the campaign.

Targeting based on demographics, locations, and interests will help you zero in on fresh segments, who you can then cultivate into long-term supporters of your organization. Keep in mind that the end-of-year giving season is disproportionately weighted toward upper-income earners, older givers, and company owners. You need to be ready for the possibility that the return on ad spend from new supporter segments will not be as great as the return you get from your first-party audiences. It is still vital to focus on these acquisition segments in order to increase the overall amount of donations and ensure the continued and sustainable growth of supporters over time.

Adjust the balance of your budget so that it better reflects where you will see results.

In the final five to seven days of your campaign, you will receive the majority of your donations for end-of-year financial reporting. In point of fact, the final week of the fiscal year for many businesses will experience an increase in income that is greater than fifty percent, with the majority of that increase occurring in the final three days before the 30th of June.

Given that more individuals tend to donate in the days leading up to June 30, it is essential to set aside a sufficient budget in order to make the most of your campaign during these last few days.

You should also consider weighting your budget to determine the areas in which you are seeing real-time outcomes. Redirect spending toward the audiences and keywords that are performing well (use return on ad spend as the major criterion), and reduce spending on those which are not succeeding.

Last but not least, raise your maximum bids for paid search over the final few days, keeping in mind that this is the period when greater donations make higher bids particularly valuable. The market will be extremely competitive during this time.

In the waning days, switch to new creative to ratchet up the sense of urgency.

Trying to raise money around tax season can be a challenging endeavour. In the crowded world of charitable organizations, we have to find a way to stand out.

It is essential to ramp up the sense of urgency in the messaging you send out during the last week or days of your campaign.

People donate more frequently in response to a sense of urgency, and the end of the fiscal year is one of the few times during the year when this sense of urgency is felt most strongly by charitable organizations and other nonprofits. Search for additional motivations that can make it more urgent for people to choose you as the recipient of their assistance. Is there a significant gap in financing or support in the area that you work in, making it difficult to get a project off the ground? Will matching the financial amount add an additional incentive? These kinds of messaging have the potential to heighten a sense of urgency and push individuals to donate.

Remembering that no campaign should ever be “set and forget” is the single most crucial thing to keep in mind. Especially not when it’s time to file taxes. Maintain a close watch on your metrics during the period, and check to see that you are continually improving. We promise that the outcomes of your fundraising efforts will be grateful to you.

Marketing Money Claims

When it comes time to file your taxes, you may find yourself asking, “What can I deduct on my taxes?”

Because the marketing budget for every company is included in the necessary operational expenses, it is possible to minimize the amount of income that is subject to taxation by claiming a tax deduction for it in many situations.

Whether your company spent money on anything as uncomplicated as a new set of business cards or something as far-reaching and successful as a whole new website optimized for SEO, the expenditures associated with those purchases can undoubtedly be written off as legitimate business expenses. Keep in mind that the tax deductions available to sole proprietorships operate in the same manner as those available to enterprises.

When it comes to my business’s marketing expenses, which tax deductions are available to me?

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) provides a comprehensive list of the kinds of costs that are eligible to be deducted from a company’s taxable income.

However, it is absolutely necessary to be aware of what constitutes valid marketing spend in order to guarantee that you are minimizing your tax payment while at the same time not trying to defraud the system by claiming for expenses that do not count.

For instance, some examples of marketing and advertising costs include the following:

• Expenses related to social media, such as paid campaigns on social media;
• Investing money in hiring a marketing expert;
• putting money into search engine optimization (SEO) tactics and search engine marketing (SEM) initiatives;
• Publications such as newspapers, television, magazines, and radio, as well as their advertising (both production and placement);
• Digital display advertising;
• Costs associated with the registration and maintenance of a website domain;
• Payments are required for directory listings.

Be wary of a typical error involving the placement of advertising signage on a vehicle. You are able to deduct the cost of having the signage made and applied to your vehicle; however, you are unable to deduct the cost of the vehicle itself or the running fees as a marketing cost. Even though your car is acting like a mini-billboard as you drive around town, you are able to claim the cost of having the signage made and applied to your vehicle.

However, the costs of operating a company car might be considered qualifying deductions under other categories; therefore, you should make sure to consult with your accountant about which deductions, if any, and how much money you can claim.

Maintain Accurate Records Of Each And Every Marketing Expense

You are required to meticulously record and store away for safekeeping any operational expenses that you intend to claim as a tax deduction.

Make sure to keep track of the following in your records:

• Why we went to such great expense;
• How much it cost (including GST);
• During the time that the purchase was made;
• Documentation in the form of receipts or invoices relating to the spending;
• Statements from your bank or credit card company might be used to demonstrate payment.

You are required to keep these documents for a period of five years, and it is highly recommended that you back up your records in a secure area, such as the cloud or a hard drive that is stored away from your primary location.

How to Make a Deduction Claim When Filing Your Taxes

When it comes time to file your taxes, you should organize all of your papers so that you have a list of all of the money you spent on marketing during the previous tax year. Repeatedly, it is in your best interest to get this done ahead of schedule so that you have plenty of time to get organized before the filing deadline.

You can use the ATO’s myTax online platform to lodge your taxes if you are a sole proprietor running your own business and managing your own tax return. This is the same approach that individuals take to lodge their taxes. You will be able to deduct the costs of work-related expenses, such as those associated with marketing, in the appropriate section of your tax return.

If you have an accountant handling your tax return, you should be able to simply hand over these documents and let them handle the rest of the work (and don’t forget that you can also claim their fees as a cost of managing tax affairs). If you do not have an accountant handling your tax return, you will need to complete this step.

Keep in mind that the main reason that marketing expenses can be deducted from your taxes is due to the fact that these costs are involved with expanding your firm. If you are considering receiving some professional assistance with digital marketing from our team, keep in mind that this expense qualifies as a tax-deductible business expense.