Share Some Love on Giving Tuesday

By: Caryn Terradas

Giving Tuesday is a yearly global generosity movement that takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year. This year it falls on November 29th. It is an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to promote donations and for people to give back to their cause of choice. Learn how you can participate in Giving Tuesday if you are a nonprofit or if you want to show your support for a favorite nonprofit organization. Last year there was $2.7 billion donated on Giving Tuesday.??

Why Should You Care??

If you are not a non-profit organization, there is still a reason for you to get involved in Giving Tuesday. ? of all fiving happen in December. The momentum of people donating can push your cause forward. So many people get involved in Giving Tuesday. People might not be aware of what your cause of choice does, and now you can promote it further. Helping non-profit costs you nothing, and it builds community. If you are given the chance to help a good cause for free, why not do it? This is an opportunity for you to bring a good light to your business.??

Giving Tuesday is a Campaign

Although Giving Tuesday might not be the same as other campaigns, it is a day to recognize non-profit businesses. You can focus your campaign on an organization as a whole, or you can focus on a specific aspect of the organization. You can evaluate your fundraising process during this time to see what is working for you.?

How to Get Started?

Now that you know why Giving Tuesday is important, you need to know how you can get started. The first thing you should do is set your goals. Do you want to raise a certain amount of money, or is there another goal you have in mind???

Plan

Once you have a goal set, create a plan. Plan to use the hashtag #givingtuesday as well as a hashtag you create. This hashtag should be specific to your organization or cause. It could be #donatetoxbusiness, #xdonations, #xgivingtuesday, or any other idea you might have. This makes your donation campaign more recognizable and unique.??

Nurture Your Donors For The Future?

After you have planned your Giving Tuesday campaign, you should put a system in place to nurture your donors for the future. If you attract new donors from Giving Tuesday, you need to have a way to contact them again. If you can get your donors to sign up for an email list, your name will stay on their minds. If they remember your nonprofit throughout the year, they are more likely to donate again in the future.?

Facebook Donations?

Giving Tuesday is a huge trend on Facebook. It is one of the largest organizations for matching. If you are recognized as a non-profit on Facebook, they will match 100% of the first 2 million dollars that are donated. Encourage your donors to make their donations quickly because you are more likely to get money from Facebook. After the first 2 million, Facebook matches 10% until they have donated $8 million. The quicker your donations come in, the more money you will make.??

Encourage Your Peers to Participate

One easy way to get the word out about your nonprofit is by encouraging the people around you to promote it. Your employees, vendors, friends, and family can post about you on Giving Tuesday. They can even use your hashtag so that your cause becomes more recognizable. The more that people talk about your cause, the more donations you are likely to receive.??

Virtually vs In Person

If you want to focus all of your donation efforts on a virtual platform, that is completely okay. If you have a donate button on your website or you plan to use Facebook donate, virtual donations are a great option. It is also okay to focus your efforts on in-person donations. You can plan an event on Giving Tuesday or ask people to give their time to your cause. Whichever way works for you is great!??

Donation Thermometer

You have probably seen the donation thermometer in the past. It is a visual for people to see how much money you have raised towards your goal. Using a thermometer on your website can increase your donations by up to 30%. People like watching the thermometer change when they donate. It is a free installation that is almost guaranteed to boost your donations.??

Influencer Endorsement?

If you work with an influencer, celebrity, or well-known local, reach out to them to see if they will help your cause. It doesn’t cost them anything to help with a good cause. You would be surprised how willing people with a large following are to help with your donation drive.??

Think Small

I know it sounds crazy, but you don’t have to think big all of the time. You can raise a million dollars with five-dollar donations. Every small donation to your cause adds up. You do not have to chase large donations. If you ask for small donations people are more likely to donate to your organization.??

Donation Matching?

Take advantage of donation matching when you can. If you are part of a larger organization, ask them to match your donations. Promote businesses in the area to match your donations. This can help you make far more money than you would have without it.??

Take The Chance on Giving?

Giving Tuesday is the perfect opportunity for non-profits to promote their cause, but it is also the perfect opportunity for other people to do something noble. Giving Tuesday builds community and brings light to nonprofit organizations around us. This year is the perfect year to get involved!