Mobilizing your community for your cause can feel like a big task; however, when you participate in Giving Tuesday, big things can happen. Every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, organizations all over the world participate in a global day of generosity that encourages participation in the form of donations, volunteerism, or simply promoting their cause. These are actions members of your community can participate in throughout the year; however, Giving Tuesday concentrates the energy to one day of generosity and community building. Now let’s talk about how you can get your Giving Tuesday up and running!
Setting a goal for your Giving Tuesday can be vital to rallying your community. When your team is ready to mobilize with a specific goal, it can inspire them to reach into pockets of their network who might not have heard about your cause before. The collective energy of everyone working with the same goal in mind can be the magic you’ll need for your day to be a success. On GivePulse, you can track your fundraising goals with a traditional monetary goal, or by the number of gifts you want to receive, which encourages donors to give any amount, no matter how small, to meet your goals! Not sure what goal you should set? Use our Crowdfunding Goal Calculator resource to get started.
GivePulse gives you all the tools you need to get your fundraiser going, but it’s up to you to market your event in a way that will speak to your community. When you go to create your fundraising campaign, be sure to include Giving Tuesday in your title to signal to your audience that this is an event focused on one day. We would also recommend composing a description for your fundraiser to explain the purpose of your Giving Tuesday and how they can help. Lastly, consider adding a countdown clock for the day of your fundraiser to help build anticipation for it to commence and excitement as your fundraiser winds to an end.
Each day leading up to your Giving Tuesday can be a day to connect with a new donor. As the big day arrives, be sure to plan out attention-grabbing content that will build excitement for your event. The marketing materials you create can tell a story of how your community can get involved, such as: explaining the purpose of Giving Tuesday, releasing your event links, encouraging participation, spotlighting who/ what will be benefiting from their generosity, and much more. You can use your GivePulse group to send out messages to your community members and even create message templates for easy communication.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraisers (P2P) are micro-campaigns within your fundraiser that will allow your participants to raise money on your behalf. Within your GivePulse fundraiser, you can enable P2P fundraising, which will allow your participants to manage their own fundraisers and ensure that all the proceeds will go to your organization. Additionally, you can even enable your opportunity to have group fundraising as well. Recently, one of our partners, Seabury Hall, utilized GivePulse’s P2P fundraisers for their annual giving day to raise money for each of their alumni classes by group. Read more about their successful giving day here!
Giving Tuesday is more than an opportunity to get new donors: it’s a way to build your community. Beyond the generosity of your participant’s donations, use your campaign to inspire them to give their time as well. Use your GivePulse group to create multiple volunteer opportunities that can be virtual or plan a big project that will be able to bring everyone together and contribute to your organization in a meaningful way.
After your event, be sure to have your thank you notes and follow-ups prepared to send out immediately. Now that you have caught their attention with Giving Tuesday, send out information that will keep them as long-term donors such as: including links to your newsletter, inviting them to your next community event listed on GivePulse, or promoting other ongoing fundraisers.
Interested in launching or growing your giving day? Set up a meeting with our giving day expert!