Long before the stampedes of Black Friday, herd mentality has always been a powerful psychological force of nature. So, naturally, we’ve since turned it sales tool. The human drive for communal experiences is so powerful, that the success of Black Friday led to the subsequent development of Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday. Now, that same motivation is being harnessed by nonprofits across the world in the form of Giving Tuesday.
With this year’s day of giving rolling out on November 29th, it is time you get rolling on developing your Giving Tuesday campaign. The sooner the better! In our previous blog, we discussed what Giving Tuesday is and shared some key takeaways to get you started on building your campaign. In this one, we’re going over some more specific, creative ideas to make the most of the most charitable day of the year!
Celebrity Cameos
Did you know you can enlist a celebrity to promote your campaign? It’s true this is a route that can get expensive, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. What used to require agents, film crews, and a lot of complicated logistics can now be accomplished with one simple service: Cameo for Business.
Although personal Cameos cannot be used for marketing materials, the business-oriented content from their site allows for much more leeway. Be sure to read through their terms of use for what will work for your organization just to be sure, but getting some star power is a great way to your Giving Tuesday campaign really shine.
Campaign Swag to Spread the Word
Creating tangible things your supporters can wear, share, and rave about is a nice marketing tool—but it can also become incredibly costly rather fast. Spending the equivalent of your campaign donations on giveaway goodies is counterintuitive, to say the least. Plus, you don’t want your swag to just end up forgotten at the bottom of someone’s bag, so don’t just settle for the generic go-to options. There’s only so many branded tote bags one person needs!
All that said, it doesn’t mean you can’t offer anything at all as part of your Giving Tuesday campaign. Branded campaign temporary tattoos, printable downloads, or templates may be a cost-effective method to achieve swag without the pricey overhead that could suit any organization. But to really supercharge the impact and value of your swag, consider the type of work your organization does when coming up with Giving Tuesday freebies. It simply requires a bit of creativity with what you give in return for campaign support.
For a nonprofit focused on performing arts, the branded materials could include yoga mats, drawstring bags, or guitar picks. For an organization in outreach, perhaps it’s handcrafted items. If your focus is mental health, stress balls, printable self-assessments, or journals can be great swag opportunities with a low investment.
Share the Love with Other Giving Tuesday Campaigns
There are a lot of nonprofits out there campaigning for their own Giving Tuesday causes just like you! Take a look at some other campaigns and find one (or more) that resonates with you. Then, give to their campaign and share it with your network.
Showing support for other organizations and issues is a great way to build a genuine connection and develop a sense of uplifting community causes together. Finding ways to give back to your community is not only a direct benefit to the community, but it also shares the culture of giving with those around you.
Encourage Recurring Donations
If someone is interested in contributing to your cause once, especially on a big day like Giving Tuesday, they may be persuaded to set up recurring donations. On average, a person who sets up recurring payments donates over 40% more over the course of the year than a single donation. Depending on your software, it should be easy enough to add a step to your payment process asking something like, “Would you like to make this a monthly donation?” so definitelylook into getting this up and running.
It is also a good plan to have more passive forms of support listed on your donation page. Services like Amazon Smile allow people to contribute to the organization of their choice while making regular purchases throughout the year. If you are not currently a listed organization on Amazon Smile, you should become one. From there, all you have to do is provide a link on your donation page to help your supporters get set up with you on Amazon Smile. Many local grocery stores offer similar donation possibilities.
Take Advantage of Facebook’s Support for Charities
Say Thanks to Your Giving Tuesday Campaign Donors
Thanking your contributors seems pretty standard, but it is still worth emphasizing. Offering heartfelt and genuine thank you messages to your existing donors can be hugely beneficial for your Giving Tuesday campaign. It also gives you the opportunity to ask if they will share your campaign with their network—directly extending your campaign’s reach to who knows how many potential donors.
Nudging the folks that are already supporting your cause can be a low-effort, high-reward potential conversion for Giving Tuesday as well as an opportunity to deepen the relationship supporters have with your brand. Not only are you checking in with people who have already shown an interest in your organization, but you are also acknowledging their contribution to your ongoing successes. It’s just nice to make folks feels appreciated.
Track and Share Milestones of your Giving Tuesday Campaign
Milestones are ever so important, and not only for internal, organizational purposes. They are the guidelines of your success, yes, but they are also celebrations. Or at least they should be! The contributors and other people who are invested in your organization want to know when these milestones are being made. It’s fun to see things really progress, and they’ll want to celebrate these wins just as much as you!
This can also be another great opportunity to thank contributors and share how much closer you are to your next milestone to keep them invested. You are creating a campaign story, so share, share, share!
Diversify Your Potential Incomes Streams
Diversity is the key to life, and it’s certainly to sustainable outcomes. Your campaign is no different. For example, the types of currency you can accept may influence your pool of potential supporters, particularly as currency continues to advance into the digital age. So do not discount the cryptocurrency angle, particularly if members of your target audience are likely to be cryptocurrency users.
Everything’s a numbers game, and pulling in donations from a different pool of donors you may not reach otherwise is one way to up your Giving Tuesday approach this year. Every.org, The Giving Block, and Engiven all offer platforms to accept and process cryptocurrencies.
Humans are social creatures; we thrive when we come together for support and security. Running a campaign is no different, even on Giving Tuesday. Collaboration is key.
There are a metric ton of Giving Tuesday ideas, and there is space at the table for all of them. Don’t limit your message or approach if you’ve got the people in your team and community to carry the weight of your campaign goals alongside you. Get creative, explore, just get your message out there, and don’t forget to track the results!
