Is Your Organization Ready for Giving Tuesday?
Hopefully you'll get something from this edition of Philanthropy Focus, but I'm also offering more at the end of this article for those of you who may need it.
Giving Tuesday 2024 is set for December 3rd (Yes, Tuesday, December 3rd). Countless nonprofit organizations will reach out to donors and other constituents asking for their support over a 24-hour period. Giving Tuesday can be a great rallying point for raising special use dollars, re-engaging with lapsed donors, or to jump start your calendar year-end fundraising.
Special Use Dollars
By promoting generosity during Giving Tuesday your organization can shed light on a special project, need, or opportunity. Perhaps you want to raise money for a newly arisen need within the community you serve. Maybe there’s a project that needs to be pushed over the top. An opportunity like matching dollars or special access for Giving Tuesday donors can inspire people to give or give again this year.
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Re-engaging with Lapsed Donors
According to the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy, numbers related to donor retention and recapturing donors continue to point negatively.* Engaging and re-engaging with donors is increasingly important and spending time and energy demonstrating impact and providing inspiration is necessary. Telling uniquely positive stories on Giving Tuesday can help you get your message out in a way that people actually consume and retain them. After going through a dozen or more Giving Tuesday emails, what stories can you tell that will stick with an individual donor?
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Jump Start Calendar Year-End Fundraising
As important as raising dollars on Giving Tuesday can be, it is also an opportunity to jump start your calendar year-end fundraising. According to Nonprofits Source, 10% of annual giving occurs on the last three days of the year.^ Perhaps it’s worth not directly asking for money on Giving Tuesday and using the day as a way to recenter your message and get the attention of donors and others by being different. I’ve spoken to nonprofit organizations who plan to use Giving Tuesday as a day of thanks to thank their donors and volunteers for all they’ve done this year. Imagine getting a thank you or something of emotional or intellectual value in a sea of “Give Now” emails and outreach. Going from there to asking your community to make year-end gifts later in December could be refreshing for some donors.
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Take the Time Now
You have to find ways to stand out and cut through the noise. If you’re connected to multiple nonprofits, universities, and other organizations like I am, your email inbox is going to be a mess starting on Monday, December 2nd. It will be the same for your donors' inboxes. Are your messages text heavy? Can you get your leadership to record a video or audio message? Can you get a message from people who are directly impacted by giving?
You have six weeks to make the most of your Giving Tuesday. Spend some time now to refine your strategy and messaging so you can stand out. Examine your medium and end product. I am happy to spend some time with you ideating and executing for Giving Tuesday 2024.
I’m offering a free 30-minute strategy session to ten nonprofits between now and Giving Tuesday.
Schedule a Zoom and we’ll find some time to make you and your organization better.
If you've read this far, thanks. Keep doing your part to make this world a better place.
Philanthropy Focus is a newsletter aimed at making it easier for people to feel good about the support they provide or to help nonprofit organizations do more without adding staff or overhead costs. Let me know if I missed something. What do you think I should cover in future editions? Click here and we'll find some time to talk.
Principal at The Parker Law Firm, P.C.
1 个月Good memo, Fred. I’d add that my personal response to text-heavy messages is to edit it down and re-edit. I don’t think video is the first resort to fixing that perennial problem.