It’s that time of year again. And, in less than a month, it’s Giving Tuesday 2020! Do you think you have everything together? Well, guess again. You can’t prepare enough for Giving Tuesday and the holiday season. Here’s the deal. This year is one for the record books. And based on our surveying, many organizations didn’t meet their budgets. So, that makes Giving Tuesday and the holiday season that much more important.
We have you covered. Our recent webinar, Giving Tuesday Decisions, is available for you right now. Yes, it’s all free, so CLICK HERE. Ben Stroup visited with us for this segment. Ben is the Chief Architect of Velocity Strategy Solutions. If you lead a nonprofit, civic group, or business, we invite you to connect with Ben since he has proven experience with revenue growth.
Oh, one more thing before we get started. We know that social media is a huge part of promoting your organization. If you’ve missed it, check out our other free webinars with all the audio, webinar, and deck content available to you.
- Social Media Analytics for Nonprofits
- Online Advertising: Nonprofit Social Media Ads
- Social Media Ads: Campaigns for Nonprofits
- Fundraising on Social Media: Your Masterclass
Lessons from Donors for Giving Tuesday 2020
Want to know a predicter for donating to your nonprofit, especially for Giving Tuesday? The answer is the relationship and experience a donor has with your group. Moreover, donors who support nonprofit groups and other charitable organizations cite the following in their decision-making.
- Trust in the organization.
- Support for the leadership of the nonprofit.
In other words, people need to believe that your nonprofit is doing the right thing with their money and for the community. When donors believe that you make a difference every day, the chances they’ll support you increase. In all of your communications, bear that in mind. As with any relationship, you want to build something on a solid foundation.
3 Realities to Consider for the Biggest Fundraising Day of the Year
Giving Tuesday is huge around the world. And, it’s the day that sees the most philanthropic action. So, it’s super important to make sure that you get things right. Just in the U.S. alone for 2019, donors gave more than $511,000,000 online to charitable causes. Between online and offline gifts, it was over $1,970,000,000. That’s astounding, and it just goes to show that Americans care about their communities!
That said, as a nonprofit leader or someone looking for donations for your fantastic cause, you have to know 3 essential realities around Giving Tuesday.
- You have to contextualize your Giving Tuesday strategies for each donor segment. In other words, what works for one group of people won’t work for everyone. To get the results you want, make sure to personalize each segment.
- As you look at your strategies for Giving Tuesday 2020, you want to compare it within your organization’s context. Therefore, don’t look at what others do. Make sure your brand doesn’t pretend to be who it’s not.
- Don’t forget that millions of people know about Giving Tuesday. In short, you have a lot of competition because most people know about it. As you approach donors, you have to use sound portfolio management strategies and valuations. In short, people won’t give to you for Giving Tuesday because it’s a new idea. It’s not, and so you have to expect that in your results.
5 Key Decisions You Have to Make for Giving Tuesday
As we mentioned above, the idea of Giving Tuesday isn’t new. It’s been around since 2012. The novelty wore off. However, it’s still an important day because people know of this global day of charity and philanthropy. Therefore, with that information at hand, you have to make certain crucial decisions.
1. Is the Day Crucial for Your Year-End Strategy?
Knowing that people are accustomed to Giving Tuesday, you have to ask yourself, does the day matter for your year-end planning? If so, is it a centerpiece or a more tertiary component? Remember, you want to make the best decision for your organization, and there’s no need to follow what “everyone else” does. However, if you will include Giving Tuesday, you have to make sure it’s in your marketing content. Having this strategy allows for a donor-centric experience.
2. Will you allow for restricted and unrestricted support for Giving Tuesday 2020?
It’s no secret that 2020 was a challenging year for nonprofits. A lot of organizations experienced significant dips in funding. However, as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Groups created giving circles and expanded their community outreach to get more funding. And they also looked at their programs to determine where and how to focus on restricted and unrestricted support. Remember, money is fungible. For instance, if you get major donors to support restricted programs, you could focus Giving Tuesday 2020 on unrestricted giving.
3. Do you want to focus on membership (recurring) or single gifts?
The year ahead of us remains vastly uncertain. In short, we have no idea if nonprofits and businesses will get further PPP loans. Thus, as a nonprofit leader, you have to be smart about it. Based on our discussion with Ben for this webinar, the recommendation is to focus on single gifts instead of recurring gifts. Sure, recurring donations tend to yield higher amounts—even from general gift donors. But, at the moment, you aim to get as much money in the bank as possible, and focusing on single gifts is the better approach for Giving Tuesday 2020.
4. What’s your digital acquisition strategy for the holiday fundraising season?
Again, Giving Tuesday is not something unfamiliar and new to your supporters. So, don’t get surprised if you get a collective shrug because donors view it as just another campaign appeal. Now’s the time to think of how to create a memorable and big event. Let’s face it, in the digital age, it’s too easy to know everything and get used to it pretty quickly. And, that means only one thing. You have to keep innovating to stay ahead. Boost retention and donor upgrades by creating something special—All. The. Time.
5. Do you know how you will measure the results for Giving Tuesday?
Your board and leadership want results, and the fundraising numbers for Giving Tuesday 2020 is no different. How will you measure it? Will you look to it as only what you raise on December 1st, 2020? Probably not. Most nonprofits don’t do that because they know the giving extends beyond that particular day. Will you be counting it from the Thanksgiving weekend (Black Friday and Cyber Monday) through an additional 7-10 days? Whatever you decide, get clear on it to have an accurate benchmark for reporting.
Finally, for Giving Tuesday, make sure to also keep in mind some other things. First and foremost, show gratitude. Remember that donors choose to give to your cause over others. Pick a unified theme, and then make sure your whole marketing content strategy reflects it. Make supporting your cause super easy and straightforward. For more information about Giving Tuesday and all the information related to the webinar, click below.
Get Your Giving Tuesday Information!
© 2020 Funds2Orgs. All Rights Reserved.
