What Is Giving Tuesday?
Is your organization participating in Giving Tuesday? This is a great opportunity to encourage giving and raise awareness for your nonprofit.
The popularity of this event continues to be on the rise. In just a few short years, it appears Giving Tuesday has gone from a catchy marketing campaign for nonprofits to a serious fundraising and awareness strategy. Along with the impressive amount of money raised, millions of social media engagements throughout the globe indicate people’s interest in nonprofits.
Most fundraising and marketing experts agree one of the attractions is that it is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to promote a campaign and tell your story to a large amount of people in a short timeframe. Regardless of whether you are just now planning to do something for Giving Tuesday, or you have been planning something for weeks, here are a few ideas for how to leverage this day for your nonprofit.
How You Can Get Involved
- Use Giving Tuesday as a way to thank your donors. Utilize videos and other social media platforms to tell your story and provide people with ways to get involved. Post updates to let your followers know how easily they can donate to your organization.
- Update your online donation page to reflect your Giving Tuesday theme, and make sure it is easy for people to make a donation. Also, give people an option to become recurring donors. And it might seem obvious, but be sure to test your donation page and make sure everything is working.
- Remember, Giving Tuesday should be one of several ways to engage donors. Don’t miss out on an overall strategy to attract donors and prospects to your organization.
- Be sure to collect the right data. Giving Tuesday is a great way to introduce people to your organization and gain some momentum. But if you are not collecting good data, you will miss a valuable opportunity to follow up and build relationships.
- Don’t overwhelm people with information. Direct people to a place with a simple and clear message of what you are asking them to do and how they can help.
- Make sure the messaging is consistent on all social media platforms and that it is easy for people to make a donation or get information.
- Follow up after Giving Tuesday with a report about the collective impact the day of giving had on your organization.
Not Just Another Trend
Giving Tuesday might feel like just another gimmick or trend. But with the proper planning and strategy, it can be a great boost for your organization. Check out the official Giving Tuesday website for more ideas and information. By implementing good strategies before and after, your nonprofit can not only reap the benefit of more donations, you can also establish great donor connections that can carry over into coming years.
