Insights for Non-Profits

With the holidays and gift-giving season upon us, now is the time to start thinking about your organization’s year-end fundraising campaigns. Kicking off the year-end giving frenzy is #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving, which occurs this year on Tuesday, November 27th.

Last year, #GivingTuesday saw a 69% increase in donations, growing from $177 million in online donations in 2016 to $300 million in 2017. This day is an opportunity for your organization to encourage more support from the community and close out the 2018 giving season strong, propelling you into a great start to 2019.

But how do you maximize your presence in this global philanthropic movement? Here are five strategies to make sure your organization is top of mind for donors on #GivingTuesday.

Re-affirm the importance of your organization’s mission.

Remind supporters how their donation impacts the community and cause that your organization is tied to. Use possible case studies from those directly supported by your organization’s mission to show the emotional impact your organization provides to those it serves.

When donors know their donation is positively impacting the organization, they are more likely to donate again. Pictures and/or videos could be a strong way to convey the direct influence your organization had on those it serves.

Remind individuals or organizations of ways that they can give to your organization.

Whether it’s monetary donations, gift-in-kind donations, volunteering opportunities, highly appreciated stock gifts, or an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution, remind supporters how they can donate to your organization and the benefits of donating, while making it easy to do so.

Utilize multiple touchpoints with donors.

Texts, emails, and social media posts are all useful (and free) resources to ensure donors of all ages will see your campaign. Keep your call-to-action simple by directing donors to your website, to an online donation form, or to call or text to donate.

Recruit social ambassadors to broaden your reach.

Your social media followers have already shown an interest in your organization, so why not ask them for their help? Ask them to simply promote your campaign with their network by sharing your social media posts.

They can also set up their own personal fundraising pages for your organization and encourage others to get involved through a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. Additionally, partner with another organization that will agree to match donations if you agree to promote their business.

This is a mutually-beneficial way to generate donations by leveraging your community profile and promoting powerful goodwill between your organization and the participating company.

Consider different online fundraising campaigns.

82% of participating organizations reported they used #GivingTuesday to try something new in 2017. This is your time to get creative. Whether it’s creating a viral Facebook challenge like the “Ice Bucket Challenge”, creating a Facebook fundraising page to share with your network making it easy to donate with the click of a button, sharing photos or videos on your Instagram or Snapchat story, videos of your staff explaining why they do what they do, an online auction or sale, or even a creative raffle, the end result is associating something fun with the mission of your organization.