Giving Tuesday is a great way to raise money and promoting the impact and programs that nonprofits are doing across the country. Getting your volunteers, board members and key stakeholder to share your nonprofit's story on social media can help raise visibility of your nonprofit. Does Giving Tuesday raise money for your organization? Nationwide, yes! Does Giving Tuesday feel a bit overwhelming? YES (!) especially if you are just throwing stuff up on social media or sending out emails without a plan and expecting great results.
Below are some of our favorite tips and tricks that we have learned over the past several years through our Nonprofit Labs and Online Conferences.
Thank your donors: No plans to do giving Tuesday? Well, use it as a day to thank your donors. Block out 2-3 hours on that day to call through your donor list and just thank them for their support of your nonprofit. Have a script of what you are going to say in case calling donors makes you nervous. Good questions to ask your donors if calling them is awkward for you: 1) What inspires you about our nonprofit, 2) What is one thing you would like us to improve and any suggestions for how we could improve? 3) Why did you decide to get involved in our organization?
Test your systems: Ideally, it should take less than 3 clicks for a donor to make a donation on your website. More than 3 clicks to make a payment and you likely will lose the gift. So, test your system and see how easy it is to make a donation.
Participate in your state or city giving day: Check with your local community foundation to see if they are organizing a local giving day. It is often not on #GivingTuesday but usually afterwards. The bonus of participating in a giving day with your local community foundation is added visibility and promotions from the community foundation promoting the event as well.
Don't compare your nonprofit to other nonprofits: It can be really easy to compare your nonprofit to the nonprofit down the street that raise $25,000 through #GivingTuesday. Maybe the nonprofit down the streets raises that much because they started planning their strategy in July! No one raise $25,000 by slapping a post together on Facebook or sending out one email. It requires strategy, time and a plan to cultivate your donors to give.
Reflect: What worked well last year? Did you write it down? Did you track why you raised a certain amount of money during #GivingTuesday last year? Take some time to reflect on what is or is not working well.