Preparing For Giving Season (And Beyond) For Nonprofit Professionals
Giving Season is right around the corner, and before you know it, this busy time will be fully underway. As we all know, Giving Season is the most important time of the year for nonprofits around the nation; with 30% of all giving to nonprofits happening from GivingTuesday (November 30) to December 31st.
If you’re not prepared, or don’t have a well thought out plan to make the most out of this time, your nonprofit could miss out on many potential long-term donors and volunteers.
While yes, this particular month is crucial for having a successful and thriving organization, it’s important to generate momentum off of this time in order to maintain growth and engagement throughout the other 11 months of the year.
So, we are going to give you some of the best tips and tricks to make the most out of Giving Season—and keep the ball rolling throughout the next calendar year!
October 1 to November 30
You may be asking “Why are we starting to plan for Giving Season 2 months ahead!?” Well, realistically, any good conceptualized plan takes time to perfect. There will be plenty of trial and error, viewing analytics, building marketing plans, planning events, etc. During such an important time, everything needs to be exactly the way you want it. You first want to decide what you want to ‘hang your hat on’ during this time. The BIG, overarching event(s) that you plan to put on for your cause. One event for Giving Tuesday, and one or more for the remainder of the season. From there, you need to gather your marketing team and come up with a compelling campaign that will leave your entire target audience aware of the opportunity in front of them. Social posts, emails, partnerships, advertising, print, all of that. You want to start marketing passively in the beginning of October, just to get it on their radar. And then, as Thanksgiving approaches, start marketing your Giving Tuesday plan more aggressively. Make a big deal out of it! Offer incentives to spread the word, set a big goal for the season and make it known. Be sure that your Giving Tuesday initiative takes precedence until it passes. Then, start rolling out your plans for the rest of the giving season.
If you please, you can add an element to your website that tracks total donations and shows the progress you and the community have made towards your goal (either monetary, volunteers and hours, or all three). This could prove to be very beneficial during ‘Crunch Time’. Remember, one single hour of volunteer time is worth $28.54! This can tally up quickly and could be an amazing way to show your impact.
November 30 to December 31
Alright, it’s go time, and we’re starting off HOT with GivingTuesday. The single most important day of the year for nonprofits. Not only is this day important for fundraising and volunteering itself, but it can be a day that dictates the next year for your nonprofit. Classy.org compiled a list of incredibly interesting facts about Giving Tuesday, it’s importance, and it’s affect on nonprofits throughout the following year.
Of return donors who became recurring donors, those whose first interaction with an organization was on GivingTuesday became recurring donors faster than those whose first interactions were outside of Giving Tuesday.
Return donors who make their first donation on GivingTuesday typically return to fundraise after 214 days, unlike donors from other days in the year who return after 301 days.
Of donors acquired on GivingTuesday, 15% will give again before the next Giving Tuesday.
New donors acquired through GivingTuesday become peer-to-peer fundraisers 3 to 4 times more frequently than donors acquired on December 31.
But GivingTuesday is just the start. Now, you need to keep this momentum going for the next 29 days of the year.
This is where you start to put all that planning in action that you prepared just two months ago. Send out emails to those who participated in GivingTuesday. First, give them a BIG “Thank You” and tell them how much they mean to you and their importance to your mission. Then, follow up with your upcoming events and initiatives. These contacts will prove to be the ones who are most likely to give to your organization. From there, you can branch out into the more broad tactics of reaching new donors/volunteers we discussed previously.
January 1 and Beyond
Whew… what a wild few months. Hopefully you’ve come out of this time with amazing results and a ton of new contributors to your mission. But the work is far from over. After all is said and done, you should be left with a long list of new information, data, and analytics that you can use to better your organization throughout this new year. Now use all of this information to move onward and upward! Deep dive into those analytics to see what your strengths and weaknesses are. Utilize your new contacts to promote events. Keep promoting and growing your reach! Then, when the next year comes around, you’ll be at an even better spot to make the most out of the giving season.
Bottom Line
It all boils down to one thing. IMPACT. If you truly want to get more contributors and retain current ones, you need to emphasize impact above all. Make sure you follow up within 48 hours to thank them for their contributions. Let them know how much their time was worth (Remember 1 hour = $28.54). Tell them how they made an impact and where their donation will be going to. If you really want to get specific, you can track their funds and tell them exactly where their money went, so they can see the exact impact that they had. Volunteers aren’t just giving their time and money away for fun, they want to see a positive change in their community and the world. Showing them their individual impact on an aspect will make them much more likely to be a recurring volunteer and donor to your organization.
With that said, we hope you have an amazing and successful GivingTuesday and Giving Season filled with happiness, fun, and positive change!
For more information on how Swoovy can amplify your awareness, engagement and retention, contact us at TeamSwoovy@swoovy.com.