As Giving Tuesday approaches, it’s important to have a game plan. This will help you procure as many major gifts as possible and connect with donors on a deeper level. So, by identifying what to do on Giving Tuesday, you’ll be able to fundraise with ease. Let’s explore the top 5 Giving Tuesday ideas to make your fundraiser a success. And, be sure to get the ultimate Giving Tuesday checklist at the end of the article to ensure that you’re on track to meet your fundraising goals now, and at the end of the year.
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1. Establish a Specific Giving Tuesday Fundraising Need
One Giving Tuesday idea is to focus your fundraising efforts on a specific need. A common mistake that organizations fall into is using Giving Tuesday to fundraise in general, instead of focusing their efforts on a specific goal.
By not articulating what your fundraiser will help create, specifically, donors aren’t able to gauge where and how they’ll be able to create change. Creating a specific project to funnel contributions into, allows donors to visualize the end result and feel more involved in the process.
2. Create an Attainable Fundraising Goal for Giving Tuesday
Of all Giving Tuesday ideas, it is important to create a monetary goal that is feasible and attainable. Organizations can fall into the trap of setting fundraising goals that are beyond their reach. During Giving Tuesday, it’s important that your organization set up one that is reasonable. If the set goal is too high, donors are unable to contextualize their gift and decide if their actions will actually help create change. This could dissuade potential donors from contributing all they can to your goal.
By creating a goal that you’re bound to reach, or even surpass, that will attract new donors to your cause. They’ll feel like they’re making a difference with their contributions knowing that you’ve been able to achieve a goal collectively. The donor needs to be the hero of your giving story, and the best way to do that is to provide them with gratification– they took steps in the right direction and now their actions have resulted in a win that exists beyond the goal.
3. Make Sure Your Website is Compatible with Mobile Devices
One Giving Tuesday idea that most organizations neglect is creating webpages that are compatible on other devices, especially mobile. The donation space is becoming increasingly digitized as time goes on. In order to accommodate your donors, it’s imperative that your website is compatible with various screens.
Mobile giving is becoming more and more popular. About 25% of donors complete their donations on mobile devices. And about 17% of Giving Tuesday donations in 2018 came through smartphones. Mobile giving enables your existing and prospective donors to give from anywhere at any time. By making sure your website is responsive or compatible, you can procure more and more donations.
4. Screen and Model Your Existing Donor Base
More often than not, organizations request donations from everyone and then determine which donors have the ability to give more. But, what if you were to cut out the guesswork on who would be most likely to give, and you could speak to them directly? This all starts with screening and modeling.
So, it’s a good idea to screen and model your donors for Giving Tuesday. By conducting a wealth screening, you can see which donors have the greatest propensity and capacity to give. Once you’ve compiled this information, you can implement focused and effective engagement techniques. Not only are you reaching donors who are likely to give during Giving Tuesday, but now you’re also communicating with people who are willing to give again and again.
Once you’ve screened all the donors in your database, you can use WealthEngine’s modeling solution to find donors just like your best. By modeling your best donors, you are able to generate a core donor persona. You can identify overlaps in demographic data, preferences, and giving history among donors who are already in your database. This will give you an impression of what your ideal donors look like. That is to say, you’ll get a sense of what their traits are and how they communicate. This impression will help you find people like those.
5. Create and Send Personalized Messages
When it comes to receipts, emails or thank-yous, a good Giving Tuesday idea is to personalize and tailor your outreach. Generating hyper-personalized Giving Tuesday emails and thank you letters allow you to personally name and acknowledge your donors. This shows them, not only are you invested in your goal, but you are also invested in them and the change they’re committed to making. This is the first step in actively cultivating and nurturing relationships with your existing and prospective donors.
Focusing on an individual’s contributions allows you to highlight how their personal interests, values, or actions help incite great change. Each of them, individually, is at the core of the positive impact you want to make. Not only will this help you during Giving Tuesday, but it’ll also help you create a loyal donor base that’s likely to give to your organization in the future.
Download Your Ultimate Giving Tuesday Checklist
These Giving Tuesday ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, there are many other items to mark off your checklist. Wondering where to start? Download our ultimate Giving Tuesday checklist here. See what to do and how best to strengthen your fundraising ventures as your year comes to a close.
