With its humble beginnings in 2012, GivingTuesday has become a ‘global generosity movement’ that occurs on the Tuesday after the US Thanksgiving. Now in its 10th year, this annual day of giving celebrates the generosity of the season in 75 countries around the world.
An astonishing $2.47 billion was donated to U.S. nonprofit organizations by a reported 34.8 million people on GivingTuesday in 2020, according to Giving Tuesday, Inc., the nonprofit behind the movement and eponymous hashtag #GivingTuesday. The donation amount, described as a “massive swell of generosity”, reflected a 29% increase in donations compared to 2019.
With so many people mobilized around generosity and shared humanity on this day, a successful GivingTuesday campaign can be key to reaching your organization’s annual fundraising goals. Here are tips and best practices that you can use when creating and executing your GivingTuesday campaign.
Appeal to emotion and be mission focused
When promoting your campaign, don’t be afraid to appeal to your donors’ emotions. People are more likely to donate if they feel you need and respect their donation. Consider the following actions:
The Hippodrome Theatre (Gainesville, Florida) shared an excellent video on GivingTuesday 2020 that both appealed to emotion and focused on their mission (source):
Promote your campaign on social media
Giving Tuesday is a very social and hashtag-friendly day of giving, so promoting your campaign on social media is important. But you’re competing with other GivingTuesday campaigns, so simply posting your links on Facebook, Twitter, etc., isn’t enough.
Also consider:
Encourage monthly giving
With GivingTuesday growing into a year-round movement, consider promoting monthly giving as the default option. Many AudienceView clients generate significant revenue by making it simple for their supporters to make smaller recurring monthly donations online – a fundraising option that is often praised for its convenience by Millennials and Generation Z.
Develop an influencer program
Your patrons want to help your organization reach its fundraising goals! Recruit your biggest supporters to help you spread the word about your GivingTuesday campaign (and others throughout the year). Elements of your influencer program can include:
Create a separate campaign
Make your GivingTuesday fundraising campaign separate from any other campaign. This allows you to:
When creating your Giving Tuesday campaign, make sure to do the following:
Be sure to create a specific branded page on your website for GivingTuesday (or any holiday campaign) linking to that campaign’s deep link.
When GivingTuesday is done, consider running a patron report to see all the donors who donated to this specific campaign and adding them to a category to label them as a Giving Tuesday donor.
We hope that these tips help you maximize your impact on #GivingTuesday!