Unless you've been frozen in a deep sleep for the last decade—like Brendan Fraser’s caveman character Link from the 1990’s cult classic Encino Man—chances are you’re familiar with the infamous day dedicated to charitable giving fondly known as Giving Tuesday.
However, with endless fragmented reels of information out there on the Why/Who/What/When/Where/How of Giving Tuesday, FrontStream decided it’s time to provide a comprehensive guide so that your organization reaches Level: Expert in all things #GivingTuesday2023.
When is Giving Tuesday 2023?
Short answer: November 28, 2023!
Longer answer: After gorging and napping (and more gorging and napping) on Thanksgiving. After camping all night outside a department store for another television on Black Friday. And after scouring online shopping platforms during your lunch break on Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday arrives just in time to wash down the prior week of overindulgence with a refreshing chance to give back and assist nonprofits in helping communities in need.
What is the Goal of Giving Tuesday?
Short answer: Encourage people to do good, give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
Longer answer: In 2012, New York City’s 92 Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact developed a novel concept: Inspire generosity and giving in all forms. Whether people share charitable gifts, volunteer time, or even donate blood at a local Red Cross, innovators at the Y wondered if Americans could turn their attention to giving after two days of consuming.
Although Giving Tuesday started locally and ballooned into a worldwide movement for 11 years now, the mission remains constant: The goal of Giving Tuesday is to bolster nonprofits and communities that have an unflagging desire to ensure good happens for all.
Why is Giving Tuesday Important for Nonprofits?
Short answer: By participating in Giving Tuesday 2023, your nonprofit will raise more than it would on any regular Tuesday (or day of the week, for that matter).
Longer answer: Not only will you raise more when you start a Giving Tuesday campaign, but you will also set up your nonprofit organization for exceeding growth expectations, converting new donors into long-term supporters, and re-energizing your donor base.
How to Build a Strong Online Presence this Giving Tuesday 2023?
If you want to make a splash on Giving Tuesday 2023, you have to find a unique angle that makes your organization stand out and gets people to donate. Since so much of Giving Tuesday takes place online and across social media, one trick is to use live streaming to connect with donors, meet new supporters, and encourage donations You can host live videos on Facebook or Instagram, answer questions, conduct interviews with supporters or people who have benefited from your fundraising impact, and share powerful stories. And if you use Panorama by FrontStream, you can have new and returning supporters donating right from the livestream. That’s how you’ll make a real impact on Giving Tuesday 2023.
Consider Giving Tuesday the Opening Day Celebration of National Giving Month. 31% of annual giving takes place in December, while 28% of nonprofits raise as much as 50% of their funding in the last month of the year. It would make little sense to skip out on the opening day of such an important month-long event, especially when so many charitable supporters are eager to do good for noble causes like yours!
Statistics and Facts You Should Know from the 2022 Giving Tuesday Campaign
Here are some of the key takeaways you should know from the Giving Tuesday 2022 Lookback Report:
- Donors in the United States gave $3.1 billion on Giving Tuesday in 2022, which is 15% more than in 2021.
- 11 million Americans donated items and stuff, 10 million people volunteered, and 15 million actively spoke up for social causes.
- Over 20 million people gave in 2022, with a 6% increase in donors compared to 2021.
- Americans were into international aid in 2022, especially during March, April, and May. It’s not guaranteed if this increase is only because of what happened in Ukraine, but it's clear that people were more focused on it than in 2021.
- A whopping 82% of participating nonprofits in Giving Tuesday tried something new.
- In the USA, donors and dollars were down. It's a real bummer that this double-whammy is coming back in 2022 for the first time since 2010. This is a big wake-up call for nonprofits to step up their game and start diversifying their donor base. There's a ton of potential out there with people from all generations willing to give, so it's time to tap into that and make a difference in every community.
- 45% of people in the US used online, specifically through the organization’s website, giving method in 2022, and 8% preferred direct and in-person giving to fundraisers.
- In 2022, the Giving Tuesday Data Commons launched GivingPulse, a cool weekly survey that shows what Americans are giving to. The Fidelity Charitable Trustees Initiative supports it and gives the social sector an accurate and up-to-date snapshot of giving in America.
How to Launch Successful Giving Tuesday Campaigns
Our comprehensive 42-point Giving Tuesday Checklist (included in our Giving Tuesday Helpful Tips Library) is an invaluable campaign resource, and we want to highlight a few key points for you here.
Make a Solid First Impression
You must make a solid impression on the new and recurring supporters visiting your site on Giving Tuesday.
- Does your campaign page match your organization’s branding?
- Is it easy to donate (meaning it’s easy to find the online donation form as well as a great experience to complete)?
- Is your donation button visible (a distinct color from the background of your page)?
- Do you send a receipt confirmation and a Thank You email after a supporter submits their donation?
Every successful campaign needs to start with a reliable foundation. It’s smart to choose a digital fundraising solution that covers all your current and future organizational needs, giving day campaigns, and annual fundraising goals in general.
A digital all-in-one fundraising platform takes a lot of the legwork out of juggling the processes that go into developing and launching a solid Giving Tuesday campaign. For instance, with Panorama by FrontStream, it's easy to build and launch campaigns in a day:
- Create as many online fundraising pages as you’d like.
- Personalize your campaign with your branding and messaging to increase trust and awareness with supporters.
- Provide a seamless mobile experience and allow donors to give on the go with mobile-responsive pages.
- Display the urgency of reaching your campaign goal and encourage donations with a real-time countdown display.
- Make giving frictionless by embedding a donation form directly on your campaign page.
- Let donors view the impact of their donation instantly with our live donation tracker.
- Share and promote your campaign across social media all from one place.
- Maximize donations by asking donors to cover your fees. With 100% of the processing fees covered, supporters increase their impact on your cause.
- Unlock opportunities for additional gifts like recurring donations, company matching, tribute giving, or memorial giving.
Ultimately, the more seamless the donation experience, the more people will enjoy giving to your cause.
Communicate Clearly and Often
Another important aspect of launching a successful giving campaign is connecting with supporters and volunteers before, on, and after #GivingTuesday.
- Set your fundraising goal and connect with your team. By clarifying people’s individual duties and developing a working timetable of what tasks need to get done and when your campaign will stay on track.
- Reach out to your entire network, including volunteers, local businesses, board members, and major donors who may be willing to participate in a matching grant incentive. Keep in mind that you’ll want to communicate to your various audiences differently based on the relationship each group has with the organization.
- Explain why Giving Tuesday matters to your organization. Don’t forget to remind supporters of your mission and how their donations further a cause near and dear to them.
- Share your fundraising goal with targeted messaging that puts donor dollars in a perspective that directly reflects your organization’s mission.
For example, people are motivated to give when they learn a $100 donation can feed and clean five shelter puppies for a week, but they may feel less compelled if you simply ask for a $100 gift. Supporters love to see how far their donations go for a worthy cause.
- Update donors and volunteers throughout the day of Giving Tuesday about your fundraising progress. (Panorama comes in super handy here, too: Our fundraising thermometer updates in real-time, so you and your supporters get instant feedback on your campaign’s progress.) One great example of updating your donors and volunteers is to send them a Giving Tuesday email to keep them updated about your Giving Tuesday campaign.
Whatever You Do, Have Fun!
Keep in mind: It’s never too late to launch your campaign. There’s no need to twist yourself or your volunteers into a pretzel trying to knock everything off the list. Do what feels right and only what makes the most sense for your organization. The video below will walk you through the campaign creation step-by-step.
What are the Tips for Running a #GivingTuesday2023 Campaign?
- Since #GivingTuesday grew up on social media, make a point of asking your supporters to post messages, stories, and inspirational content on their social media profiles both leading up to—and on—the big day.
- Post more often and sometimes outside of business hours on all your social media channels.
- Send emails and highlight exciting milestones or struggles that your nonprofit recently overcame. If you know that you will be extra busy during your Giving Tuesday campaign, schedule posts and emails ahead of time.
- Tell a compelling story about your organization. Stories naturally draw people in. When told effectively, stories instill a sense of purpose in the audience and can convince them to act toward making a real difference. Tell heartwarming stories or funny stories. Tell stories of bravery, courage, heartache, and hope. Whatever story you tell, keep your organization’s unique voice in mind from start to finish.
When you tell a good story about why your nonprofit is participating in #GivingTuesday, new and recurring supporters alike will hang on to your every word. - Consider multichannel fundraising. The goal here is to reach more donors by using multiple contact channels. The more your nonprofit’s campaign crops up in people’s day-to-day lives, the more familiar your nonprofit will be, and people like supporting a cause they feel close to.
Two examples:
- In the weeks leading up to Giving Tuesday, you could rent a billboard advertising your nonprofit campaign in or near a town where your website’s analytics show that you have a lot of past supporters. Then, shortly after the billboard goes up, send an email to your database with pictures or an inspirational video about your campaign (a quick shot of the new billboard could really help bring the message home)!
- Or you could send out direct-mail appeals that also include your nonprofit’s social media handles. Then, a week or two later, post the same message from your appeals across all your social media channels and ask your followers to share far and wide.
The combinations of multichannel fundraising are limitless, so get creative!
- Bring in more participants with online auctions. Online auction platforms like BiddingForGood are a fun way to engage new and past supporters alike, especially since many are shopping for holiday gifts by the time Giving Tuesday is upon us.
- Use free resources, like these customizable Giving Tuesday logos in the form of images, Instagram stickers, and gifs!
- Plan to put up flyers around the community for your campaign? Consider adding a QR code directly connected to your donation page. Holding a phone in front of a code is a much easier way to reach a donation page than plugging a website into a phone browser.
- Come up with a unique hashtag that’s specific to your Giving Tuesday 2023 campaign and that you and your supporters can use leading up to—and on—November 28, 2023.
While overstuffing hashtags and hyperlinks in social media posts impair readability—and, in turn, lessens the overall impact of your message—one or two succinct hashtags, when used effectively, can help you reach new donors.
What are the Examples of Successful Giving Tuesday Campaigns?
Here are the following examples that highlight some of the most successful Giving Tuesday campaigns and demonstrate the power of collective generosity in making a positive impact on communities worldwide.
1. Shriners Hospitals for Children
The Shriners Hospitals for Children's Giving Tuesday campaign page uses exciting graphics to create a unique and engaging experience. They have balloons with children's faces to capture attention and evoke emotion. The visuals reinforce the campaign title, "The Sky Is the Limit on Giving Tuesday," and the idea of helping children dream big.
This creativity has paid off, as they have already raised over $485,000 and counting. Their ability to be creative while staying connected to their mission is commendable and likely contributed to their success.
2. Vanderbilt Health
This southern healthcare system has found it fruitful to run a Giving Tuesday campaign for the past few years. Their catchphrase—Giving More Tuesdays—is not only on-point for the why of their campaign, but it also fits perfectly with the day itself.
By adding a Match My Gift section and button—that included a quick explanatory Thank You to the places that offered to match supporters’ charitable donations—under their regular Donate Now button, Vanderbilt Health was able to exceed their original goal by more than 80%!
3. Feeding America’s Children
There's so much food available, but it's messed up that there are still tons of people, especially kids and elders, who are starving. It's tragic to think that people let food go to waste in one place while people are hungry all over. And it's usually because transportation costs are too high for food banks to accept donations. That's where Feeding America's Children comes in. This organization helps get food to those who need it and ensures they have various nutritious options all year round.
An anonymous donor had doubled every donation Feeding America's Children got! Donations will help provide meals to kids nationwide and help us get closer to ending child hunger. The organization invests the funds raised into rescuing millions of pounds of nutritious food, providing over 2,002,250 meals to more than 240,270 children in need.
How FrontStream Can Help Your Nonprofit This Giving Tuesday 2023
We have even MORE #GivingTuesday2023 information for you! Here is the Giving Tuesday checklist to help you get ready for the big day and motivate more people to give to your cause. Let’s do good together! FrontStream also offers a fundraising platform that can help you create a fun and exciting Giving Tuesday this 2023. Request a demo now to get started!
