Are You Ready For #GivingTuesdayNow? 5/5/20

In case you missed it, GivingTuesday announced a second day of giving this year on May 5th in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Many nonprofits are hesitant to ask their donors to give during a crisis time like this, but Giving Tuesday is the perfect opportunity to reach out to your donors for support during this time of need. Your donors want to support what they are passionate about and this can be a simple way to be transparent with your financial situation, operational needs, and ask for support.  I think you all will be pleasantly surprised with the response you’ll see.

In fact, today we had an internal company-wide meeting at Bloomerang where we discussed some metrics on some of our customers who have sent out COVID Emergency Appeals and how that compares to those who haven’t.  Those who sent out an emergency appeal saw their revenue INCREASE by 30% where those who did not send out an appeal saw their revenue DROP by 20%. 

With Giving Tuesday on the horizon, I wanted to share some thoughts and simple practices I’ve come across the last couple weeks that may be helpful with your Giving Tuesday campaign:

• Be transparent with your current needs.  THIS IS IMPORTANT. Donors are more likely to make a donation if you are honest with them in what you’re needing.  Tell them what your current struggles are during the pandemic, what their donations are going to help with, etc. The more transparent you are with the donors, the more likely they are to make a donation (and even make a larger donation).
• Create a designated Giving Tuesday landing page and donation form.  On the homepage of your website, you should have a big bold Giving Tuesday button for your donor’s to access a custom Giving Tuesday landing page.  This landing page should utilize graphics/logos that Giving Tuesday provides to help your donors feel a sense of community with one another and so they know what they are supporting.  Also, be sure to capture appropriate information on this giving page so you can personally follow up with donors and thank them for their generosity
• Utilize Peer-to-Peer fundraising.  There are many people out there who are looking to support organizations during this weird time we find ourselves in but they don’t know who to support. Reach out to some of your most engaged supporters to become ambassadors for you in a peer to peer giving Giving Tuesday campaign. They can reach out to their own social networks and encourage giving to you all.  There are many scenarios where donors are willing to give to organizations because their family/friends are passionate about them.
• Encourage sharing.  When donors make a donation, provide a way for them to share with their social media communities that they supported you on Giving Tuesday.  Many platforms can make this an automated process for you. It typically costs about 10x more to acquire a new donor so any way you can reach out to new audiences is important.
• Optimize your communications.  Whether you are sending out physical letters or emails, it is important to segment and personalize your communications.  Create a draft of your Giving Tuesday appeal, make a few copies of it, and adjust them according to your various segments.  Some example segments include: Major donors, monthly donors, volunteers, board members, first-time donors this year, etc. Don’t forget when writing your communications to be DONOR-CENTRIC (thank the donors, focus the attention on them instead of yourself).
• Follow up with them quickly.  Day of Giving campaigns are great to receive quick, one-off donations, but following up with these donors quickly will help you stay sustainable through the rest of the year and beyond.  Studies show that a thank you within 48 hours increases the odds of retaining donors significantly (for first-time donors, it increases by about 4x). Thank them, ask them why they gave, and keep your relationships strong so you boost your retention rates.

With everything going on in the world today, people are looking for a way to be in community with one another.  Putting together a simple Giving Tuesday Campaign can be a great way to allow your supporters to feel that sense of community and help you accomplish your needs & goals at the same time.

As you’re putting together your strategy, please feel free to utilize tons of resources here:  https://bloomerang.co/givingtuesday/

Best of luck!