Giving Tuesday always lands the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and is a day intended to promote charitable giving at the beginning of the holiday season. Since its establishment in 2012, it has grown in popularity and is now a pivotal day on many organization’s fundraising calendars. 2019’s Giving Tuesday accounted for over $511 million in donations in the United States and more than $1.97 billion worldwide.
I have a number of thoughts and tips on #GivingTuesday that I am pleased to share with you.
Set Expectations
Giving Tuesday has taken off in the last decade and there is an expectation that all non-profits and organizations should be active on Giving Tuesday. Donors expect to receive emails. With that said, it’s important to set expectations for results. Every organization has a different budget, list size, and number of followers so giving results can vary widely.
What Works
Giving Tuesday activates lower dollar donors and prospects who are already engaged digitally. It likely won’t catalyze major gifts. But it can bring in large numbers of new lower dollar gifts and it can help secure additional gifts from donors at all levels who may give because it’s Giving Tuesday.
It works best to fundraise for a particular need on Giving Tuesday. People like a specific program to support, rather than being asked to support the broader organization. There is a lot of “noise” on Giving Tuesday – people are bombarded with emails so creating a clear ask for a compelling program will help people to notice your campaign.
How To Do It
1. Start Early
Giving Tuesday follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday when email traffic is high. Giving Tuesday itself is also a high traffic day so it’s helpful to start the campaign early. Plan to email the week before Thanksgiving announcing the program that you are fundraising for and your matching gift (read on!). One tactic I’ve seen successfully deployed is offering an “early sale” on Giving Tuesday matches by emailing a select group on Cyber Monday to offer them an early jump on taking advantage of the match funds.
2. Create A Matching Gift Option
Creating a campaign with a matching gift can be a great motivator on Giving Tuesday. Matching gifts have several benefits: first, they allow you the opportunity to engage a donor to give the match. I suggest asking a lower dollar donor to make a gift that will be realized if matching gifts are received on Giving Tuesday. That is a nice way to offer an opportunity to a lower dollar donor that will help to motivate others to give.
3. Incorporate a monthly giving option into all Giving Tuesday materials
If presented with the opportunity, some people will opt to give each month as opposed to just a one-time gift. Monthly donors are loyal donors and great prospects for larger gifts in the future.
4. Use Toolkits
Giving Tuesday has a number of helpful toolkits that you can use to get started. Once your collateral is ready, be sure to share it with board members who can help to amplify your Giving Tuesday plan (and maybe make a gift themselves).
5. Communicate
Be sure to communicate your Giving Tuesday plans and results to top donors and your board. Many sophisticated donors expect to see Giving Tuesday activity; being proactive in communication helps to further engage key donors and engender confidence in your plans. Board members can also be helpful in sharing Giving Tuesday messaging on social media.