GivingTuesday 2021 : Tech your Tuesday and Raise More

GivingTuesday 2021 : Tech your Tuesday and Raise More

More than one-third of annual donations will be made in the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day in any given year. As more and more donations come through online sources, movements like GivingTuesday and city-wide online giving days are an easy way to grab attention from trusted donors and new supporters alike.

 

GivingTuesday, the nonprofit world's answer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, takes place this year on November 30, 2021 - the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving. With a bit of information, some strategy and enthusiasm, your GivingTuesday outreach and campaign can rise above and set your organization up for the End Of Year Giving Season.

 

1. Create a Low-Cost / High-Impact Giving Campaign

Your GivingTuesday campaign does not need to be extensive or costly - as a matter of fact, it should be very nearly free. GivingTuesday is largely an online effort in which nonprofits from all over the world encourage donors to give and corporations and media outlets pay attention to our sector too. Therefore, you don't need to have Google as a corporate partner (although kudos if you get them!) to benefit from the collective giving noise because the noise is so loud that it elevates all nonprofits.

It is, however, essential that you create your campaign with share-ability and ease of donating at top of mind. Often a simple and beautiful giving page is enough to support your ask. If you have enough engagement by your board and closest ambassadors, try a crowdfunding or peer-to-peer campaign, in which your most ardent donors are converted into supporters when they create personalized giving pages with their own impact stories to send out to their friends, email lists and social networks.

 

2. Tell Your Story... your donors are listening

Your donors are primed to pay attention to you uniquely on GivingTuesday (see #1 above). With so much attention on our social impact organizations, your supporters are actually expecting you to say something. So say it loud! Give your supporters a reason to share your posts or forward your email calls to action. The best way to grab and hold attention is to tell your mission through the eyes of whatever benefits from your work - children, animals, the planet, circus performers. Focus on your beneficiaries and current work or projects as you outline specific asks or calls to action.

 

3. TEXT Key Stakeholders on GivingTuesday

Send different text messages to different groups of donors/supporters/volunteers on GivingTuesday. Make sure it's pertinent to their experience of your organization and direct and to the point.  

For example, you can send a group text message to all of the people who registered for your last event. Something like:
"You heard our story at our Fabulous Gala last month. Make your GivingTuesday gift to Wonderful NPO here: [insert tinyurl.com]."

The hard and fast rule here is to make sure that whomever you are texting has opted into receiving texts from your organization to avoid any unsubscribes that would negatively impact your ability to text them for future events or auctions.

 

4. Leverage Your Data for Maximum Impact

To the point above, you need to utilize your data to identify key donors, stakeholders, sneezers (your supporters that are most likely to share your stories and mission) and others. Comb through your donor management and volunteer management tools and past event attendees

 

5. Videos and Photos Should Take Center Stage

If Instagram and Facebook have taught us nothing else, it is that our society is made up of visual consumers. Pictures speak louder than words and videos are literally pictures that speak! Use them. They're more important than any words you write.

 

GivingTuesday is a win-win for nonprofits and you have the tools you need to make it happen for your organization (particularly if you are a BetterUnite user). Leverage tech to make your GivingTuesday fundraising as effortless as possible and as profitable as possible. It's not too late to get your campaign set up!