This once-a-year event could be the best thing yet for your nonprofit.
It happens every year.
Retailers will soon be going into overdrive hyping their big Black Friday sales. Not to be outdone, online retailers have countered with Cyber Monday. And don’t forget Small Business Saturday!
If you run a nonprofit, you might understandably feel left out.
But here’s an opportunity to counter the consumerism with altruism—Giving Tuesday.
The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving is when nonprofits have a chance to remind donors that it’s better to give than to receive.
How effective is it?
Well, according to wholewhale.com, Giving Tuesday donations totaled more than $116 million in 2015—a 145 percent increase over the year before. And this year they’re projected to rise another 116 percent to over $252 million.
In fact, the trend has been dramatically upward since the event began in 2012.
But most nonprofits are still unprepared to take full advantage of this fundraising phenomenon—after all, it’s still pretty new. That’s too bad, because they’re missing a prime opportunity to finish the year with great revenue totals.
We know that the best donation months come in the fourth quarter. So it’s all-important to make fourth-quarter fundraising efforts as effective as possible. A strong Giving
Tuesday campaign is the best way to do that.
At InChrist Communications, we’ve been thinking about this stuff for a long time, and helping our clients make the most of this unique fundraising moment. So here are some tips to maximize your Giving Tuesday push:
- Teamwork. Don’t assign this to one person and expect a stellar result. You need a team. And the team will need a leader. Then, make your entire organization aware that Giving Tuesday is a top priority.
- Set realistic goals. Determine the maximum donation total that you can realistically shoot for—and tell people what it is. This will help you, but it will also show your donors that you’re serious. Giving Tuesday is an excellent vehicle for acquiring new donors, so you should set goals for that too.
- Create a strategy. Your Giving Tuesday campaign should include email, social media, press releases and more—all with the same messaging. Make it a unified, concerted effort.
- Make it easy. You want people to give. Don’t make it difficult for them. Provide a smooth online platform that will accommodate their generous impulses. That usually means a special landing page—perhaps with a giving thermometer to measure progress. That will make donors feel they’re part of an exciting movement.
- Test your platforms. Don’t wait till the campaign is in full swing to find out your links don’t work or the form is impossible to navigate. Test everything beforehand.
- Cultivate. Your Giving Tuesday donors will be excellent prospects to approach for regular recurring gifts. Make sure to give them that opportunity.
- Acknowledge. As soon as donors respond, have systems in place to confirm their gifts via email, text or social media. And thank them profusely. They’ll appreciate that.
- Measure the results. Knowing how your campaign performed will help you refine it for next year.
By the way, InChrist Communications will help you craft your Giving Tuesday campaign and put all the pieces together. You don’t have to do it yourself! That includes:
- Press Release
- Social media organic posting/strategy
- Paid ads
- Blog post
- Landing page
- Email copy
The best part? Your initial strategy session is absolutely free.
But November is right around the corner. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to finish the year well!
Click below to arrange your free strategy session.
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