Part I: It’s Here! (The Time to Think About Your Giving Tuesday + EOY Campaigns, That Is)

In 2022, Giving Tuesday donors gave $3.1 billion, a 15% increase over the previous year. 30% of all annual giving occurs in December and around 10% occurs in the last three days of the calendar year. 

You might think it’s blasphemous to start ideating themes, content, and campaign ideas when the leaves haven’t even started falling. However, these campaigns are critical to the overall success of nonprofit organizations, including closing a budget gap. Not to mention that each of these pieces takes time to thoughtfully create. The last thing you want to end up with is a rushed, thrown-together, piecemeal campaign that doesn’t resonate. 

The first thing you want to understand (or refresh your memory) is how last year’s campaign performed. Did you reach your fundraising goal? Were your marketing efforts successful by way of click to conversion rates? Were you able to upsell some gifts? 

Secondly, it’s important to ask donors why they give so that you have messaging that is relatable for other potential donors. This can be done through 1:1 phone calls, a survey, and/or focus groups. Ask open-ended questions and use this information to build donor personas. Not all donors are the same and likely give for different reasons. 

Prior to getting into the nitty gritty details, lay out the stories that you will tell and how they are best conveyed. How does a donor’s gift make an impact? This might include a dollar buy (e.g. a gift of $100 achieves x, a gift of $500 achieves y). It might include a video component. 

From there, you can then begin to calendar and timeline your efforts and begin drafting copy and graphics. We can dive deeper into these tactics in Part II.