Activate the supporter base you already have to get the word out about your GivingTuesday campaign—and be the first to reach BRAND NEW donors.
Reminder: This years annual celebration of #GIVINGTUESDAY 2021 will be on NOVEMBER 30th!
Inside the fundraising community, #GivingTuesday is a well-known annual event. And by conventional wisdom, this worldwide day of giving is a great opportunity for nonprofits to capitalize on a frenzy of generosity.
The truth is that many potential donors don’t even know about GivingTuesday! Nonprofit Source reported that 46% of donors surveyed hadn’t heard of it before—meaning it’s not nearly as widespread and widely-known as industry insiders might think.
This presents nonprofits with both a challenge and an opportunity: You could be the very first to tell potential donors in your community about GivingTuesday—securing not only their contribution to your campaign, but potentially further reach with their social networks.
Spreading the word about your #GivingTuesday campaign BEFORE the big day is critical.
So make an action plan!
1) Educate donors about GivingTuesday.
2) Reach out to current donors, supporters, staff and volunteers and ask for commitments to share and boost your nonprofit’s #GivingTuesday posts.
3) Tap your network for celebrity “Ambassadors” who can get the word out about your campaign to everyday people.
Amplify Your Message with Ambassadors
While not every single #GivingTuesday retweet will lead directly to a donation, visibility is the key to success. The more people who see your posts, images (even just your nonprofit’s name!) the greater the chance an interested donor will find it and feel moved to donate.
Big visibility can come from two places: Spontaneously going viral (which is, to be clear, an impossible goal), or a coordinated effort to activate as many social network nodes as possible. Every share, retweet, or repost of your nonprofit’s #GivingTuesday message means it’s reaching more people outside of your immediate circle. We’ll call these individuals, who are the central nodes of their wider social circle, “Ambassadors.”
Ambassadors have the potential to reach many more individuals than any single marketing campaign—no ad spending required.
Who are Ambassadors, and how do I recruit them?
Your network of engaged supporters, your staff and volunteer teams, and anyone else involved in your nonprofit are your ambassadors—that is, people who know what your nonprofit is about, who believe in it, and who want to see it succeed.
While not every single #GivingTuesday retweet or post from a supporter will lead directly to a donation, the visibility is key. The more people who see a post, an image, or even a nonprofit’s name, the greater the chance that your ideal donor will see it, feel moved by it, and donate.
Here are some good place to look for ambassadors:
– Past donors, even if they can’t donate this time—this is a great opportunity to help the cause
– Any supporter engaged with your organization, e.g. individuals who have participated in programs in the past, past sponsors, vendors
– Staff and volunteers
– Board members
– Anyone connected to your nonprofit with access to a platform or large audience
This is just one of the many reasons why it’s so important to thank your donors, and send an update later showing where you spent the money and what your nonprofit accomplished with it.
Those donors now feel appreciated for their gift and see the tangible impact of it, so they know it’s worthwhile. Someone who feels appreciated for their gift, and has seen the incredible results of your work, is far more likely to give again and help support your GivingTuesday campaign.
Ambassadors with Extra Star Power
Nonprofits can be miracle workers when it comes to recruiting celebrities to the cause. Tap your nonprofit’s network for any well-known individual—even if they’re only well-known to a small community—to participate in your #GivingTuesday campaign. Then ask your super ambassadors to boost and share your social media posts on GivingTuesday, and hopefully mobilize their followings to encourage more shares and donations.
Securing Commitments
There are two types of commitments to chase after: commitments to boost your nonprofit’s social posts on GivingTuesday to increase visibility and awareness (and reach those donors who might not even know about the event), and commitments to give a gift and talk about it online. Personal stories play a huge part in getting the word out, particularly if it carries a powerful emotional hook.
Those ambassadors willing to commit to a #GivingTuesday contribution should post about their gift with their own personal experience or perspective—something that will appeal to other people within their own communities.
Stories that showcase the fantastic work your nonprofit does every day can inspire big giving!
Create a GivingTuesday Donation Page
Give your customized #GivingTuesday donation page a unique URL that’s easy to write on mailings, or use Greater Giving’s easy Text-to-Donate feature. Clients who use our powerful Online Payments engine to accept donations online have access to a built-in Giving Tuesday template that can go live with only a few clicks.
On your donation page, talk about your specific campaign, your fundraising goal, and what tangible impact a donor’s gift will have on achieving the mission. And be sure to check out our post about creating a donation page that converts casual interest into a gift!
