With one week to go until #GivingTuesday, are you wondering what (or what more) you can do to soar on #GivingTuesday? Last week on the Podcast, I shared my 10 tips. Now hear from past consultant guests from Driving Participation (plus a few friends) who share their ideas.
From Vanessa Chase, The Storytelling Nonprofit
Episode 002 Getting People Involved in Your Story
Make your campaign as donor-centric as possible. #GivingTuesday is not about your organization’s needs, it’s about donors. In your call to action be sure to eliminate the word “we” and instead use “you” to highlight what the donor make possible. Organizations should also think about highlighting donor giving stories that day, which is a great way to appreciate donors and incorporate social proof into your campaigns.
From Christopher Davenport, 501 Videos
Episode 004 Telling a Moving Story
Make an offer that’s simple but specific. Many of the appeals I’ve seen play up the #GivingTuesday angle. I seriously doubt that donors care about #GivingTuesday all that much. So, instead of talking about #GivingTuesday as a great day to give, talk instead about how one person can be helped by the donor in a significant way if they donate on #GivingTuesday. It’s less about the date, and more about the bigger impact a donation will have on #GivingTuesday.
From Elizabeth Engel, Spark Consulting
Episode 006 Rethinking What it Means to be a Member
Many associations don’t do any fundraising at all. And even those that do, it’s more like a trade association’s foundation, so they’re reaching out to a REALLY limited audience. They’re not trying to blow up social media with a major public campaign.
That said, if an association does have a foundation or does fundraising for conference scholarships or endowed programs, there’s certainly plenty of time to send a #GivingTuesday themed appeal that sends potential donors to a simple landing page that incorporates social sharing as part of the donation process.
If associations want to get serious about trying to do something related to #GivingTuesday for 2015, they need to pay attention to John Haydon. He’s outstanding on using social media for fundraising and has written extensively about #GivingTuesday.
From Peggy Hoffman, Mariner Management
Episode 011 Banning the “V” Word
I’m coming from how you engage your members in community service rather than raising funds for your own organization. We know members want to be involved in outreach so this is a great easy way to do that in a small, but meaningful way.
If you have a scheduled meeting with members in attendance – pass the hat for a charity of choice. Maybe it’s the association foundation or one association I know has a fund members can tap if times of need (like cancer care, emergency funds).
No meeting? Pick a charity and highlight their work on your blog leading up to GivingTuesday. Announce that on the day you will post a link and ask all members to click through and give.
From Cynthia D’Amour, People Power Unlimited
Episode 016: Care and Feeding of Online Communities
The key is to get the word out. The personal ask make a huge difference. People have tons of choices about where to spend their donation funds.
Also realize one ask many not be enough. If you post to Facebook for your fans, only a small portion will actually see the post. You’ll want to repost it a few times – perhaps give it a fresh spin periodically. Same with Twitter. The life of an average tweet is less than 20 minutes.
Call out your thanks as publicly. If you know people have contributed, thank them publicly – unless they ask you not to. Build the thanking momentum. Make people proud to be on your team.
Create interesting graphics that tell a tale and show why the money matters. Create fun twists that make it cool to give to you. Write copy your folks will feel comfortable sharing with their friends and families.
From Justin Ware, Bentz Whaley Flessner
Episode 022 Manufacturing Viral Campaigns
Do something! A lot of conversation takes place online during #GivingTuesday and people are thinking about philanthropy. So at a minimum, send an email to your database reminding them of the work you do and the opportunity they have to support your organization.
Conduct a mini social media campaign to celebrate philanthropy – it’s not all about the ask – create posts that celebrate giving to your organization that are fun to share. People are focused on philanthropy during #GivingTuesday and are primed to share fundraising-related messaging.
From Stephanie Cockerl, NextSteph
Episode 023 Winning and Working a Google Adwords Grant
Nonprofits can take this time to make sure that subscribers with a Gmail address are indeed getting their email messages by posting a blog post on how to move their messages from the “promotions” tab to the “primary” tab so that their messages for #GivingTuesday are being received and read.
From Jamie McDonald, Network 4 Good
Episode 013: Turning Online Events into a Party for your Cause
Send out a Save-the-Date Email to your donor and prospect lists, highlighting your key campaign messages and goals.
From Josh Nelson , Client Outreach Coordinator, DonorPerfect
Build your #GivingTuesday campaign into your overall end-of-year strategy and make it special. If you could get a donor to provide a one-for-one matching gift campaign through midnight on #GivingTuesday, that could really help.
Consider making your campaign a recurring gift or monthly giving campaign. These donors will give more and you’ll be able to retain them longer (on average) than single-gift donors. Make sure you clearly state the impact the $10/month donation will have towards your mission.
From Sandy Rees, Get Fully Funded
Nonprofit Toolkit Annual Appeal Q&A Webinar
Be sure your “Donate Now” button works. You don’t want to be caught with problems on your website! Make sure the site is ready for visitors, the donation button is easy to find, and that the auto-receipt that people receive is consistent with your nonprofit’s brand.
From Kait Sheridan
Episode 028 Starting a Movement and Building Momentum
For nonprofits who are just thinking of getting started: I would tell nonprofits to jump in. There is still time to plan an initiative and if you are new to #GivingTuesday, is a great day to experiment and try something new! All of the tools and resources you need to get started is on www.givingtuesday.org. And remember you don’t have to go huge in your first year – you can always plan a campaign for this year and save the bigger ideas for next year, when there is more time to plan.
For nonprofits already on board: Now is the time to make some noise! Partners are already starting to spread the word about their campaigns. Use the hashtag #GivingTuesday to start telling your story and engaging your communities. Also, remember to share your results and thank yous after #GivingTuesday to keep the momentum alive through the end of the year.
