Giving Tuesday: 3 Must-Haves for Your Campaign
Over the last few years, we have seen Giving Tuesday grow into a massive generosity movement that, in 2020, generated more than $2.4 billion in donations in the U.S. alone. This global giving day is a great opportunity for nonprofits to engage new and existing constituents and rally them towards your cause, be it through giving, volunteering, or more.
Here are our top three “must-haves” for nonprofits when planning a Giving Tuesday campaign in 2021, which will be held on November 30.
1. Plan Ahead (Before)
Get started now! Trust us. The time-space continuum seems to accelerate in advance of November 30. Now is the time to plan.
Build a plan that reflects the size, resources, and capabilities of your organization. For example, leverage the social media channels where you are the strongest. (It’s probably not the time to start a Pinterest account if you don’t have one already.) Take stock of your strengths and build a plan that reflects those, but don’t be afraid to push the envelope too if you feel brave!
For the greatest return on investment, we recommend building a plan that has three key components:
A clear, measurable objective. What do you want to accomplish? To raise a certain amount of funds; to actively engage your volunteers or enlist new ones; to mobilize your community for a specific purpose, etc. Having a concrete objective will help you craft a plan that directly supports it, thus better focusing your resources.
Activities that meet your audience where they are. Giving Tuesday activities tend to happen within a short time frame; it’s important to provide action opportunities that your audience is motivated to do and able to do. What do you already know about your audience? What type of actions or themes might resonate with them? Do you have ways to test a couple of ideas with a small sample of your audience members before you deploy them at scale? Here are two examples from Feeding America:
In this example Feeding America gives three simple ways to engage at varying levels.
In this example Feeding America uses a partnership with a popular fast food chain to promote an easy way to donate.
Tools to assess progress and course correct. Don’t wait until the end to know if you are successful. Build in checkpoints along the way to assess your progress: are people registering for your events? Which of your social media posts and ads are performing best? What kind of comments and questions do people have? This will help you ascertain what’s working and what isn’t. You can then refine and adjust as needed.
Here are some of our favorite planning resources:
Download all GivingTuesday resources for nonprofits, including press releases, sample emails, social media, graphics, etc.
Join the GivingTuesday Facebook group (community ideas for action)
Sign up for the GivingTuesday email list
Read this Nonprofit Tech for Good article about common Giving Tuesday questions
Engaging corporations: Consider partnering with a corporation aligned with your values to promote your Giving Tuesday campaign amongst their employees and constituents! Many companies have matching gift opportunities. Companies can encourage employees to participate in Giving Tuesday (or any giving campaign) and match their individual donations, up to a limit.
2. Make it Concrete (During)
Focus your messaging so that people can relate to your work. Developing your plan centered on a theme is a great place to start. You can highlight a specific issue, program, or project and even encourage a specific gift amount or type of gift. This makes it easier to craft clear and compelling messaging, which will in turn make it easier to activate the right people. Your audience will more promptly recognize whether the action and message resonates with them.
Remember to keep your messaging and actions focused on the objective. Here are some examples:
Organize a contest or a challenge.
Find and promote a matching funds opportunity. (Don’t forget about the opportunity for employer matches!)
Tap into a specific audience.
In this “heart-healthy” Tik Tok campaign, the American Heart Association promotes their #KeepTheBeat Challenge to dance and donate to Keep the Beat
In this example, Room To Read promotes a simple matching gift opportunity that allows supporters to double their impact.
In this example Charity: Water calls on streamers to help raise money on #WorldWaterDay.
Engaging corporations:
Corporations can offer to match charitable donations
Give paid time off for volunteering
Sponsor a company volunteer day
3. Showcase Generosity in Action (During/After)
Generosity comes in many forms. People can be generous by giving funds, by sharing their time, or by themselves expressing gratitude. Whatever form generosity takes, be sure to show it on your social media and digital channels.
As soon as people start taking action (see #2) make sure to start sharing it. Like, retweet, share, or comment. This shows gratitude and builds momentum.
Early on, start posting examples of people taking action in your campaign.
Be sure to update your followers when you reach a goal!
Post messages from your team showing gratitude for those who give, in whatever form
Showcase the different ways--small and big--people can give
Engaging corporations: Ask corporations to pledge a % of their profits to a charitable cause. It is another great way to showcase generosity in action. See how Asibey Consulting has pledged 1%.
Here are some examples of organizations showing gratitude big and small:
This article was written by Edith Asibey, Vivian Gallegos, and Komal Kumar. For more information about our team click here.
Asibey Consulting does not imply a relationship with any organization featured in this article.