Posts tagged: Fundraising

Love it or not, Giving Tuesday is a potential goldmine of donor acquisition.

To help reduce overload, here’s how to build your Giving Tuesday plan in just 3 easy steps.

I’ve put together a set of strategies + tactics built upon insights from the most recent Giving Pulse Q1 2024 report. So you can quickly align and launch Giving Tuesday 2024 within your current fundraising plan.

Why? “Giving Tuesday generates more traffic than any other day, it results in the largest influx of new donors.”

This year, that’s December 3^rd.

Let’s dive in.

1. Make It Personal. The Giving Pulse survey found that campaigns with a clear, specific goal—like funding a local project—brought in 35% more new donors.

Tactic: Create a “Project Countdown.” Launch a daily social media series leading up to Giving Tuesday, revealing compelling facts about your project.

Tactic: Utilize an existing story to show the need for the project.

Tactic: Take a recent local news headline and tie your project to the solution.

2. Donors like to give locally. 65% of respondents indicated their most recent act of generosity was intended to help their own community.

Tactic: Create a “Local Impact Showcase” to show how donations directly benefit the community.

Tactic: Incorporate well-known local landmarks or popular community spots into your campaign visuals.

Tactic: Organize a community event or volunteer opportunity alongside your Giving Tuesday campaign. Bonus: volunteers remain your most consistent donors.

3. New Donors like Social Proof. The survey says 43% of new donors were influenced by testimonials from other donors or beneficiaries.

Tactic: Add a special “Donor Stories” area to your Giving Tuesday webpage. Feature stories and testimonials from a variety of donors.

Tactic: Share a series of short and real video testimonials from both donors and people who have benefited from your organization. Post these videos on your social media in the days leading up to and during Giving Tuesday.

Tactic: Ask your current donors to share their stories on social media using a specific hashtag for your campaign. Give them a template or prompt to help them quickly join in.

4. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising. The report noted peer-to-peer as one of the most effective ways to attract new donors, with ambassadors bringing in an average of 10 new donors each.

Tactic: Equip ambassadors with ready-to-use resources like personalized fundraising pages and social media templates.

Tactic: Pair new ambassadors with experienced ones to provide guidance, share best practices, and foster community.

Tactic: Share shoutouts and links to each of your ambassadors’ campaigns.

5. Convert and Retain. Donor retention drives long-term sustainability. We know new donors are more likely to give again if they get a personalized thank-you within 48 hours. The auto-reply acknowledgment does not count.

Tactic: Form a dedicated committee within your board to oversee and implement a robust thank-you call strategy. Each new donor gets a thank you call within 48 hours. Voice mail counts. Bonus: lovely way for your board to engage in fundraising without an ask.

Tactic: Create a “New Donor Welcome Series” – a sequence of tailored communications over the first three weeks post-Giving Tuesday. Include impact stories, volunteer opportunities, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content to deepen their connection to your cause.

Tactic: Set up an automated system to recognize donors on the one-day and the one-month anniversary of their Giving Tuesday gift. Use this touchpoint to showcase the impact of their donation.

Which tactics best align with your current fundraising plans and capacity?

Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to create and build lasting relationships with new donors. But you don’t have to add to your overload to make it successful.

Here’s your 2024 Giving Tuesday plan – in just three easy steps.

1. Your Goal: Giving Tuesday is a donor acquisition event for our organization.
2. Your one clear, specific, and local project.
3. Pick one tactic from each of the five strategies.

Congratulations! You now have your 2024 Giving Tuesday Strategy and Plan.

Have you ever said/thought, “we’re a best kept secret?”

I hear it all the time and it is a heartbreaker because I know that means the people and foundations that want to support that work won’t find those nonprofit organizations.

Visibility for your nonprofit organization is vital so that funders, supporters, and connectors know who you are and what you help make happen.

But many nonprofits overlook easy opportunities to gain visibility. They’re tunneled into communicating what they do. And because of that often view other nonprofits as competitors rather than complementors.

But get this.

One of the easiest ways to raise your visibility is to lift up the work of complimentary nonprofits.

What?

I’m not suggesting you just hop online every day and “like” the work of other nonprofits.

I’m suggesting you be strategic in highlighting nonprofits that work in complimentary ways to your organization.

And is this issue I show you how to grow your visibility by lifting up the work of other nonprofits.

Let’s jump in.

1. Which nonprofits work to solve the same problem as you, but from a different starting point?

Say you’re a nonprofit that helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities get and maintain a job. Natural complementors for you are your local, regional, state, and national disability advocacy organizations.

2. Spotlight Your Complementors

Instead of only writing about your work, highlight and spotlight the work of your complimentary nonprofits, explaining how what they do means you can do more of what you do.

This is a super easy way to grow your visibility.

And when you do this consistently, the other nonprofits will often return the favor. You’ve helped them show the impact of their work as well. Which can lead to new followers and supporters for you. And more opportunities for the people or cause you serve.

Win/Win/Win

Key Point: Be consistent. This isn’t a one and done proposition. Build a strategic once a month nonprofit spotlight into your communications. But keep it simple. Use a template, and then fill in the blank. Doesn’t need to be fancy but does need to be consistent.

Here’s an example. Feel free to copy, paste with your customized fill in the blanks.

Shout out to <<Nonprofit Organization Name>> Their work on _________________ means people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can ______________________.

Create the template that works for you and then repeat, repeat.

3. Be a Connector

In addition to highlighting a complementor, connect your strategic complementors.  Look for ways to amplify their work by connecting your complementors to each other as well. 

When you’re known as a connector, you are viewed as a thought leader, helpful, and valuable. All which help raise your visibility.

Final Thoughts

What many nonprofit leaders don’t realize is that growing your supporters is about more than grinding out 3 posts a week on your activities. That is isolating and insular.

Supporting your complementors on their journey doesn’t take away from your visibility. It actually amplifies it by broadening your network, expanding your audience, and strengthening your relationships.

Strategically highlight other nonprofits and watch your visibility skyrocket.