A #GivingTuesday Resource Roundup
#GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back is now in its 4th year. While a baby in the world of fundraising tactics, it’s clearly become a movement worth noting, with Blackbaud reporting that more than 46 million was raised in one day.
If you’re planning on creating a #GivingTuesday campaign for this year, Driving Participation has you covered. Over the past 78 episodes, I’ve amassed the knowledge and resources from scores of fundraising experts to help any organization start planning and executing a campaign that gets results. From social media, graphics, media buys, to research, Driving Participation is here to discuss the best strategies and examples to paint a clear picture of how to use #GivingTuesday to benefit your organization, and ultimately, your cause.
Recognize your goal
“When setting a goal, you have to make it big and ambitious enough that people are willing to rally around it and work harder than usual to make it happen. You have to be willing to fail.”
One of the foundational success stories of #GivingTuesday, the #BmoreGivesMore campaign started with a clear goal – use the day to shine a light on Baltimore and claim the title of the most generous city, all while raising $5 million. Setting a clear agenda allowed the campaign to become highly successfully, raising over 5.7 million in 24 hours. How exactly did they do it?
- Educated Stakeholders
- Pushed Out Sharable Content
- Made Donating Easy
- Built a Reporting System for Non-Profits Across the Region
Recognizing what your #GivingTuesday goal is a key component to success. Are you interested in spreading awareness? Obtaining new donors, or gaining social followers? When you get down to the basics and figure out what your organization’s top priority is, you can start forming a strategy to meet it.
When you can clearly identify the specific program, project of type of donation you hope to obtain, you can begin to zero in on a theme and iconic story that will carry and support your message. Campaigns work best when the focus is one person, whether it is an iconic story of a client, staff, or volunteer.
Gather visual assets
The next step is gathering the necessary visual information to create a successful campaign. Do you have these checked off and ready to go for #GivingTuesday?
- Giving Tuesday logo
- A message or theme for your campaign
- Video
- Stories
- Social media images (staff shots, fun images, etc., )
Branding all digital channels for a cohesive campaign is important. Make sure the images, as well as the story you’re sharing is consistent across all channels – from website, email, giving page to social media. Pay attention to smaller details as well – from email signatures of every employee, to the resolution sizes of mobile images and text.
Create a landing page
"How you design and lay out your landing page says a lot about what you as an organization are prioritizing."
They key is to be really clear about what you are looking for and designing a plan to match.
This year, the Germantown Academy, an independent school in suburban Philadelphia, has a strategy to incorporate their #GivingTuesday campaign into their overall year-end annual giving. GA warmed up their followers with links to a landing page through social media channels every Tuesday since Nov. 3rd. As the campaign moves forward, they will start promoting matching gifts, as well as encouraging followers to hashtag #UNselfies.
By creating a content plan that changes week by week they can invite individuals who have already participated to join in on the next phase, as well as introducing new people to the cause.
Build an outreach calendar
- Plan communications with board, staff, donors, prospects and social ambassadors.
- Plan communications through year-end and beyond for continuity.
As you rally your team, break down tasks into manageable responsibilities. Set your campaign up for success by playing to their strengths and interests.
Marlee Honcoop of the State Association of Nonprofits in Illinois, stated that #ILGiveBig really came together when they asked their foundation members to promote the overall campaign, rather than asking for direct donations.
Donors Forum partnered with their foundation members to fund a media purchase of prime air-time. This was a huge success in driving people to the campaign. The cost of a media buy to spread the word about a campaign is often beyond any individual nonprofit. And getting stations to donate typically leaves you with time slots and shows that are not reaching your ideal audience.
Identify at least 10 online ambassadors
Another success factor I’ve noticed is organizations going “outside” to find potential online supporters. Identify the followers, clients, friends with big voices that can elevate your messages effectively. Arm these people with your key campaign messages and weekly shareable content.
“If you already have ten, find ten more! The more individuals you have spreading buzz about your cause on #GivingTuesday, the more new donors you will connect with.”
“Go to Twitter, search hashtags that relate to your organization’s mission, and find Twitter users who are including those mission-related hashtags in their posts. Then, check the Twitter users’ bios to determine if they have online influence beyond Twitter. If the answer is yes, ask them to be an ambassador on #GivingTuesday.”
Pay attention to what’s working. Steven Varnum at The Community Loan Fund shared the strategy behind their #GivingTuesday this year - sparking gifts through a series of matching grants that are announced throughout the day. They warmed up their fans by having staff post #UNselfies using the hashtag #JoinOurCrowd which was the theme of their annual report.
Photo Sharing Campaigns
For the last several years, photographs have been at the top of the list when it comes to uploading and sharing content online. SocialTimes reported that:
- 80 million pics are uploaded to Instagram each day
- 350 million photos are added to Facebook daily
It’s definitely a trend that spilling over to organizations, as more and more nonprofits are incorporating photo and video sharing as a central strategy for engagement, and #GivingTuesday is no exception.
In its second year, the #GivingTuesday campaign added the #UNselfie photo sharing component, putting a spotlight on generosity. The outcome? Thousands of people uploaded pics to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter declaring their support to all kinds of nonprofits and causes.
A great way to track the success of your #GivingTuesday photo-sharing campaigns is creating a unique hashtag. John Haydon shared his tips for using hashtags effectively:
- Listen First – Research trending hashtags used by your community. Checkout me and hashtagging.com.
- Keep it simple– Make a hashtag that is short, relevant and easy to remember.
- Go Beyond Twitter – The party will spill out into Instagram, Facebook, etc.
- Track Mentions – Use technology to track mentions of your hashtag. Check out com and tweetchat.com.
- Promote your hashtag– Frequently, with all channels.
- Engage – Reply, retweet, like… support and encourage.
- Say Thanks – Say thanks and report back about results
Its important to recognize that #GivingTuesday is still a very new event and to keep your mind and options open as your evaluate what to d0.
Listen to Episode 79 and turn yourself into a Giving Tuesday expert!
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Our Driving Participation Guests Share their campaigns and Resources: (Another big Thank You to all of them!)
Nonprofit Campaigns 2015
- Barry Martin and the Children’s Organ Transplant Association’s campaign shared by Jordan Lewis
- Heather Durkin and Germantown Academy’s campaign shared by Jessica Holl
- Steve Varnum and The Community Loan Fund’s campaign
- The Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and their STAMP campaign, Tweetchat and 8 Things to Do to Get Ready shared by Alison Zeidman and Michael Norris
Focus on Regional Programs
- Jamie McDonald and her slides with Giving Tuesday checklists
- Bill Moore and information on his campaign with #GiveMiamiDay
- Marlee Honcoop and information on Illinois’ Giving Tuesday campaign
Consultant Perspectives
- Pamela Grow and her Giving Tuesday articles, “Should your Nonprofit Bother?” and “Is your Organization Ready?“
- Lynne Wester and her research on Giving Tuesday’s effect on organizations
- John Haydon and his articles on photo sharing campaigns and effective hashtag use
- Justin Ware and his last minute tactics for Giving Tuesday
- Joe Waters and his lessons from retail marketing
- Tony Martignetti’s interview with Asha Curran of 92Y
- Elizabeth Weaver Engel and how to use your products/services to give back
- Rachel Hutchisson with Madeline Turner’s recaps of #BmoreGivesMore and #GivingShoesDay
Nonprofit Toolkit
7-Day GivingTuesday Countdown
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Beth Brodovsky
www.iriscreative.com | www.nonprofittoolkit.net
