3 min read
Giving Tuesday is a critical time to utilize the supporters who want to make a difference in your organization. Take advantage of the time before giving season by marking off your official Giving Tuesday checklist:
September
- Review what you did in previous years. Decide if you’re going to participate in #GivingTuesday this year
- Decide on the fundraising goal you’d like to reach, is it $1,000 or $100,000?
- Decide on your theme or cause for this years’ #GivingTuesday
- Ask major or long time donors if they would be willing to match donations that come in on #GivingTuesday
- Decide what kind of donations you want to raise; one time or recurring donations
October
- Use filters in your nation to look for your #GivingTuesday audience, here’s some ideas:
- “Donated date is in the last 2 years”
- “Donated on page (slug) is #GivingTuesday page from last year”
- “Number of donation is greater than 3”
- Plan your email and social media content
- Set up your donation page(s) and plan how you’ll say thank you. Will you use a single auto-response? Or add people who donate to an automation that can send a few emails with a time delay
- Review your payment processor and if you’re not using NationBuilder Payments consider setting this up
- Set up your #GivingTuesday donation page, if you aren’t using NationBuilder payments, set this up now
- Set up your #GivingTuesday thank you emails, these might be auto-responses or you might like to set up an automation to run which could trigger a few emails with a time delay in between
- Test your donation page and make sure the user experience is pleasant
November
- Week 1: Draft your #Giving Tuesday email blasts. How many will you send on the day? Add compelling content like what your org wants to accomplish and how the donations will help get you there
- Week 2: Create your social media images/video which you want to share in the lead up and on #GivingTuesday. Make sure you have the url to your donation page somewhere prominent on all posts
- Week 3: Test your donation pages by making a donation. Test that your tags, auto-responses and automations are working as planned
- Week 4: Reach out to some of your most dedicated volunteers and advocates, let them know what you need from them to make Giving Tuesday a success
- Give them clear Calls To Action
- Empower them with their personal fundraising page.
- Give them a timeline.
- Tue 29th: GO LIVE and enjoy it!
"If you think your message is going to be an unwelcome intrusion, you're probably right. The answer isn't to talk less. It's to talk good."
A week after #GivingTuesday
- Write a thank you email that celebrates your achievements from #GivingTuesday, announce the amount you raised or number of donors that donated. Tell your supporters what the donations will allow your team to accomplish and thank them once again. Celebrate your wins
- Review with your team what worked well and what didn’t, take some notes so you can make some changes next year
- Thank supporters in a way that reflects their level of engagement - hand written note, a personal thank you from the Executive Director, celebrating social media supporters with a shout on social platforms, personal thank you emails
- Make the relationship more than about money. Now that the supporters have made a donation, use this opportunity to survey to ask them what really matters to them, crowdsource ideas for your next campaign or get feedback on your organizational priorities.
- Start mapping your path of engagements for year-end activities and get everyone on on the next path of engagement for new opportunity
