What’s #GivingTuesday?

For the past few years, #GivingTuesday is one the most powerful leverages for the 501c3 organizations and nonprofits all over the world to mobilize their resources and fundraising efforts towards their charitable cause. In 2015, in the global day of giving, there were $116 million raised online in over 70 countries.

When is #GivingTuesday?

This year #GivingTuesday is on November 29^th, 2016 (it’s on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving).

 Why participate in #GivingTuesday?

• Over 20,000 nonprofit organizations participate each year and the number is significantly growing;
• It’s a perfect moment to promote your charitable campaign among the community and to search for new donors and followers;
• It’s right before the most generous month of the year – December.

How to get prepared for #GivingTuesday?

To ensure the success of your 501c3’s charitable campaign, answer the following questions:

• What’s the main goal of your campaign?
• How much do you want to raise?
• How do you plan on spending the funds?

If you have answers to the questions above, then you can proceed with the next steps towards successful realization of the campaign:

• Mobilize your resources and pool of volunteers – everybody should be on the right page with your nonprofit goal and charitable campaign. The higher involvement, the higher revenues.
• Promote the campaign through web page, short e-mails, donation boxes in local stores, brochures & postcards at local coffee shops, parks, churches and community centers; visualize your campaign;
• Activate your nonprofit profiles on Social Media, especially the last week before #GivingTuesday: post, tweet, comment, encourage your followers to share and spread the word about your campaign;
• Search for partners – these can be other 501c3 organizations with similar purpose or large scale corporations in the community that provide matching grants opportunities for their employees;
• Provide constant updates on the progress of the campaign – how much has been raised so far; how much until the final goal; share the numbers; make everybody responsible for the success;
• Provide Feedback – do not forget to thank your donors and supporters after #GivingTuesday. Publish their names, pictures and funds they raised; share how the finds are going to be spent and provide frequent feedback;
• Update your Nonprofit’s Strategic Plan for Development – think about ways to involve the donors in another campaign; seasonal or annual.

More information and a helpful toolkit is available at: GivingTuesday.