6 Things You Can Do on Giving Tuesday Besides Asking for Money
If you’ve been here for a while, then you know that I think there are 1001 things I’d do BEFORE giving Giving Tuesday much attention.
Maybe you’ve participated before? If so, I’m guessing you’ve seen how oversaturated it is. If not - let me just tell you: it’s oversaturated.
And I get it - it’s sexy. 3.6 million gifts totaling $380 million in 2018 IS SEXY. But guess what else? There are 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States. Divide those babies up and you get a whopping $240. Of course I’m joking a bit here, but you get my point.
My two cents is that like most things - it’s not a silver bullet. It either takes a ton of time, attention and resources to make successful OR - it likely won’t produce what you are hoping it will. My guess is by you being here - you don’t have a lot of any of the above.
But fear not!
Here are five things you can do leading up to or on Giving Tuesday that I would say ARE worth it in terms of moving the needle.
#1: Say thank you: I must sound like a broken record to you, but I’m telling you - gratitude goes a longgggg way. On Giving Tuesday, stand out amongst your peers and just….say thank you. Say thank you on your social channels or in email. Pick up the phone and call a donor - yes, just to give thanks. In fact, IMO, if you do nothing else on Giving Tuesday - do this. It will pay off- especially before you start asking for money during the last few weeks of the year.
#2: Go live: That’s right - jump on your social media and just like the above - say thanks. I’m talking Facebook Live, Instagram Stories - whatever your audience follows you on (heck, do it across it all). In case you haven’t caught wind - video is all the rage (it’s also not going away). So, take the opportunity to show your face and say thanks + plus what their support means to your organization.
#3: Get your end-of-year ducks in a row: If you haven’t drafted your end-of-year appeal yet - there is still a (tiny) bit of time. This post and this post can help kickstart you. My suggestion? Get those email appeals PERFECT and schedule the following: (12/3) - Gratitude email; (12/11) - Email Appeal #1; (12/17) - Email Appeal #2; (12/30) - Final Email Appeal - Tax Reminder with social media post inbetween.
#4: Use your board members: Board members can and should be reaching out to their networks to solicit support this time of year. What can you do to make that super easy? Try putting any of the following together for them and say “To make things easy for you to reach out to your network, we put the following together for you to use. We’d love to set a goal of each person reaching out to X people/getting X gifts.” Some asset ideas:
Social media post + pictures
Email copy
Printed appeal letters
Note cards
Photos
Video assets
Annual report
#5: Celebrate with your team: This time of year is crayyyyyyy. I mean this in both a personal and professional way. Instead of giving Giving Tuesday another minute of your time, gather your team and do a staff potluck or go grab a meal together. BOND. Celebrate your 2019 wins. Share gratitude to the team you have and how each individual person is a contributor to making it all possible
#6: Plan ahead: 2020 is about a minute away - are you ready? In a few weeks I’ll be walking you through step-by-step how to map out your 2020 revenue calendar, but if you want to get a jump start - try mapping out Q1. Here are some examples of what you can do:
Do you have a system in place to THANK all of the donors that contributed to your giving campaign?
Do you have a plan to reach out to any 2019 lapsed donors (donors who gave in 2018, but not 2019)?
What grant proposals need to be written in early 2020 (hint: most financial institutions have early in the year deadlines)?
What is one cultivation effort you can do in Q1?
So tell me because I’d really love to know. Who here DOES participate in Giving Tuesday and what’s the ROI? I’d love to hear. And if you don’t participate - what are you doing instead?
xo,
