#GivingTuesday is over, but there are still plenty of opportunities to engage #GivingTuesday donors! These five tips for stewarding your donors will help your nonprofit reap the benefits of #GivingTuesday well into 2021.
In 2020, #GivingTuesday saw increases across the board. According to Charity Navigator, there was a 34% year-over-year increase in dollars raised and there were a whopping 49% increase in donors. We saw those trends play out on Mightycause, too. On our platform alone, $6.8 million dollars were raised for nonprofits and nearly 33,000 donors made gifts. And even though the event was months ago, your nonprofit can still build on the success of 2020’s #GivingTuesday!
These five steps will help you spin your #GivingTuesday success into year-round support for your nonprofit.
1. Send an update
We’re a few months into the year and it’s a perfect time to talk about your achievements! After all, your #GivingTuesday donors helped make your 2021 accomplishments so far possible.
Even if your #GivingTuesday donors are getting your regular communications and newsletter, send them a special email reiterating how important their support is. Let them know what their donations have helped you achieve for your cause.
This is important because it makes your update personal. When you acknowledge your donors’ specific contributions and campaigns they’ve participated in, it makes them feel seen. And that’s how you build lasting relationships with your donors.
2. Involve #GivingTuesday donors in your 2021 plans
What have you got planned for 2021? How can your #GivingTuesday donors get involved? Send them an email letting them know what your goals are for this year, what highlights and milestones you’re looking forward to, and loop them in!
3. Ask for a recurring donation
So, there were a lot of lessons for nonprofits in 2020, but one of the most important is how vital recurring donors are. Recurring donors are the backbone of any sustainable nonprofit. And they’ll carry you through a crisis, providing dependable, predictable revenue. A great ask for your #GivingTuesday donors, especially those who gave in smaller amounts, is to set up an automated monthly donation to your cause.
This will help you move these donors down the pipeline. And more importantly, you’ll engage donors in your nonprofit in an ongoing way. They’re literally buying into your cause.
Setting up a recurring donation on Mightycause is easy, too. They’ll just need to come back to make another donation in the amount they’d like to give each month, and check that they’d like to make their donation monthly. We’ll charge their card each month for the amount they choose. Donors can update the day their card is charged, and charge or update their payment method, so it’s as easy as possible for them to manage.
4. Send a survey.
Something nonprofits can easily forget is asking for feedback from donors. It’s not hard to understand why – you’ve got a lot going on! But sending out a survey asking your #GivingTuesday donors for feedback will not only get them engaged, it’ll allow you collect important information that will help you get to know them better. And the more you know about your donors, the better you can build a strong, lasting relationship with them.
Here are few ideas for what to include on your survey:
- How did they find out about your nonprofit?
- What drew them to your cause?
- Is there a particular program, service, or part of your mission that’s especially important to them?
- Do they have any suggestions to improve the donation process?
This data is important, but soliciting feedback sends a larger message. We see you, and hear you, and care about what you think. That is fundamental to forming positive relationships with donors, and getting them to come back to donate again and again.
5. Ask them to volunteer.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of nonprofits. And there’s a significant overlap between donors and volunteers. In fact, about 58% of donors eventually end up as volunteers. It makes sense, when you think about it. Volunteers are typically deeply invested in your nonprofit, so of course many of them start out as donors. Stewarding your donors is all about increasing and deepening the involvement in your cause, so asking your #GivingTuesday donors to volunteer is a great way to get them to take that next step.
Have your volunteer coordinator host a virtual information session, or several for different types of volunteer opportunities. Post some volunteer opportunities on your Mightycause page, or simply send an email with the types of volunteer positions you have available. And if you have a Spring campaign coming up, it’s a perfect time to find volunteers to help out with that!
However you engage, just make sure to do it!
The most important stewarding tip is simply to make sure you’re doing it. Whether you send them a quick email, put together a survey, or try another tactic, it’s vital that you reach out to your #GivingTuesday donors. Make sure they say engaged in your work, even though things may be a little slow right now. Get them on board for your Spring campaign, and lay the groundwork for them to come back for #GivingTuesday 2021!