Top Takeaways - Part Two

Our friends at #GivingTuesday created a special “Global Wave of Generosity” in response to the pandemic felt around the world. Response for this initiative was mixed. As I mentioned in my first post, a number of nonprofits were able to leverage local Giving Days during that time while others decided to simply focus on personal asks to specific donors. Below are some other thoughts from the nonprofit leaders in my network.

#1 - Be social people

“We've been running online and social campaigns since mid-March when this really began, and we've seen a significant increase in online donations…”

“We raised over $100k among our constituents and on social media. We planned early and sent 3 separate emails and social media posts. It helped that we had a donor who offered a match.”

Do you know who the influencers are in your network? They can help spread the word simply by sharing, liking or commenting.

#4 - Be people, people

In times like these, suffering is virtually universal - so recognize it and be a bit more creative with your outreach. One organization said “It worked much better than we anticipated. Our focus was on thanking our community business partner/donors tagging them on Facebook versus asking them for donations. Generated some decent traffic. We followed up the next day with an email to them linking their post to be sure they saw it.” Yes - this was work intensive but they generated good returns and stronger bonds!

Another nonprofit sent special thank you messages to all of their donors who were front line workers. By using Pursuant’s GivingDNA platform, they were able to create a special segment for health care workers.  

And last but not least - #5 - Stick to your mission  

In one community, she said that they had just had a tornado which spiked giving and then COVID-19. “We raised 10x what we raised after the tornado.” On the other hand, one museum stuck to their mission and raised over $250K in a virtual membership drive which 100% offset loss of ticket sales during April and May.

“… We felt that #GTN might be more appropriate for nonprofits who have felt like they couldn't actively fundraise during this time because they weren't providing direct care related to COVID-19 - arts organizations, etc. - while we are very much on the front lines and we have not been shy about sharing that.”

“... In terms of individual giving, we dropped our spring appeal in favor of a special Emergency Response Fund appeal (new fund to help our congregational members). That has brought in 4x what we normally raise in the spring appeal.”

Thank you again to those who shared. Would love to hear from more of you on my next topic - key learnings from this pandemic. What will you change in your organization moving forward?