As everyone in the nonprofit and school community knows, we’re heading into the best time of the year. Yes, the holidays! And it’s also great because people feel incredibly generous, which is why Giving Tuesday was created. Recently, our fun-loving CMO, Kristy, hosted a webinar discussing case studies and five key decisions about Giving Tuesday, which we’re writing about today.

In case you missed it, here’s Kristy’s latest webinar video recording.

Now, let’s dive in and highlight some of what Kristy had to say about Giving Tuesday and start with some of the facts she shared:

• Last year, over 37 million adults participated.
• Historically, donations have increased by 65% per year.
• For Giving Tuesday, the average donation is $159.
• The average company matching gift is $233.
• 9% of nonprofit volunteers give for Giving Tuesday.

In short, Giving Tuesday is an excellent opportunity to raise funds for your nonprofit. With that said, let’s dive into the five critical decisions your school or nonprofit has to make for the day.

1.     Is Giving Tuesday going to be part of your year-end strategy?

The first question your nonprofit or school must answer is if Giving Tuesday is going to be part of your overall Fundraising efforts. It doesn’t have to be part of your strategy. You can do it as a singular event for one day. But, if it is going to be part of your end-of-year fundraising, then it’s important that everything be consistent. In other words, you want your social, email, and marketing content to promote it as part of your year-end giving through the holidays.

2.     Will you promote restricted or unrestricted giving?

Once you decide how you want to approach Giving Tuesday and your year-end fundraising, you want to focus on how you want the gifts. If you’re seeking unrestricted giving, make it a point to share with supporters key things that supporters will help you accomplish. And if you want to restrict giving to a specific program, Giving Tuesday is excellent for focusing on a program. Regardless, you always want to show the impact that donor contributions make!

3.     Will you focus on membership or single gifts?

Membership giving (aka subscription or monthly giving) is a great way to get donors to support your organization. As you know, almost everyone’s familiar with monthly subscriptions like Netflix. Well, your nonprofit or school can and should ask its supporters. To join a fundraising membership society and support your cause with small monthly gifts, your supporters can give more in the long run. One $10 monthly donation is $120 at the end of the year.

4.     What role will donor acquisition play for Giving Tuesday, if any?

Giving Tuesday has been around for a long time. As a result, you’re not likely to find new donors who want to support your fantastic cause. But you can use Giving Tuesday as a time for donor retention and upgrading. During a time of goodwill and generosity, it’s often the right time to ask your supporters to do a little bit more. For instance, you can ask donors to upgrade to your membership society or go to the next level within that group of donors.

5.     How will you measure the Giving Tuesday period?

Although Giving Tuesday started as one day on the calendar, it’s expanded, much like retailers have expanded Black Friday. Many nonprofits count the Giving Tuesday period as 7 to 10 days. But others consider the Giving Tuesday to last the entire holiday season. The fact is that there’s no correct answer. However, you decide to define Giving Tuesday is fine. Once you choose, stay consistent so you can measure the impact year over year.

Pro tips for year-end fundraising

Finally, in her webinar about Giving Tuesday, Kristy provided some tips for the event and year-end fundraising. For one, be timely about things in your community. For instance, during this time of year, it’s a great idea to thank essential workers and others in your community who do great work all year. Another tip is to make it human. Remember that your brand goes well beyond a logo. It’s about the people who work there and get served by your organization. If you do these things, you’re sure to make a connection with your community and supporters.

Oh, we have one other thing to share. During year-end, it’s a great time to add shoe drive fundraising to your efforts. You see, in a shoe drive fundraiser, people don’t have to give you a financial donation or sell merchandise. All they have to do is give you shoes, and you get paid in a 100% profit fundraiser that goes well with any other fundraising effort. It’s another opportunity to raise funds and do good for your community and even the planet!

Want to learn more? Take a look at our webinars, ebooks, YouTube, or Facebook for more insightful marketing and fundraising ideas!

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