As a nonprofit fundraising professional, I am fascinated by how different organizations utilize Giving Tuesday. As a donor, I find Giving Tuesday overwhelming. The emails and social media messages are nonstop, often without a cohesive message. I am also sometimes confused because I receive multiple solicitation emails from organizations I already support and I am left to wonder if the organization expects me to give again. It’s time for a new approach. I need to cut through the noise and figure out how I plan to participate. Here is how I approach Giving Tuesday as a donor; I hope it provides a structure for you as you consider how to engage.
1. Amplify the messages of organizations you support. I plan to share the Giving Tuesday messages for organizations I support on social media. Sharing their content helps to promote them and their work, and allows me to weigh in as a donor. This Giving Tuesday, consider sharing the messaging from one organization you support.
2. Support new organizations. I will use Giving Tuesday as a way to identify a few new nonprofit organizations that I am interested in supporting. I will look at my existing portfolio of giving and figure out what other issues I want to engage with and support. This Giving Tuesday, consider looking for another organization to give to, perhaps one that is hyper-local to your community, such as the community library or local food pantry.
3. Create guidelines for my future philanthropic engagement. I plan to use Giving Tuesday as an opportunity to think critically about my current philanthropic giving and my plans for the future. If you’re thinking about doing the same thing, here are some ways to get started:
- Search through your inbox and find all the donation confirmation emails you received from organizations over the last year. Drop all of that information into a spreadsheet. Include headers for the name, donation amount, donation date, and issue area.
- With that information in mind, think through issues that matter to you. Ask yourself : What do I worry about on a daily basis? What do I wish I could change in my community, my country, our world? How might I like to spend my time volunteering? What issues motivate me?
- Identify organizations that seek to help solve the problems you worry about and impact the issues you care about. You can do this by talking to friends and family members, community members, colleagues, and others in your network. For local organizations, you can search online using the words “near me” or “Washington, D.C.” to help generate a more personalized list.
I hope these ideas help you to make the most of Giving Tuesday.