2018’s #GivingTuesday was a huge success. On Mightycause, 25,886 donors raised $3,674,149 for more than 900 nonprofits. But, now that November 27th is passed, it’s time to transition #GivingTuesday to year-end fundraising for your nonprofit.
This is a critical fundraising time for your nonprofit: according to Quartz, “Just under 25 percent of all donations received annually will be given in the roughly five-week period between Thanksgiving and New Years, according to the Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University.”
Review your goals to transition #GivingTuesday to year-end fundraising
So, now that your successful #GivingTuesday campaign has ended, what’s next for your nonprofit? Look at your goals! If you didn’t hit your goal for #GivingTuesday, consider making that your end-of-year (EOY) goal and plan to hit that number by Dec. 31.
If you reached your goal, consider setting a new, “stretch” goal for your #GivingTuesday campaign for EOY. This will keep messaging simple for your nonprofit during its busiest month of the year, and will allow donors to continue to give towards your #GivingTuesday campaign.
Don’t forget to steward your #GivingTuesday donors!
It may seem too soon to ask donors to give another gift, but stewarding can also be an effective solicitation tool. Donors don’t need a lot, but a nice thank-you message can go a long way. Plus, it’s important to show donors what they helped accomplish.
Consider sending an infographic breaking down your #GivingTuesday success. This way, you can send out the important statistics related to your nonprofit’s successes and thank them for their commitment to creating change.
Need inspiration on what data to include in your infographic? Check out Mightycause’s #GivingTuesday infographic highlighting the platform’s success:
And, don’t forget to take advantage of the Advanced Analytics feature for all #GivingTuesday participants through the end of the year to visualize and analyze your data! Mightycause does the work for you; with the Analytics tool, you can see your nonprofit’s average gift size, recurring donations, peak fundraising activity and more!
Encourage donors to give the gift of a donation.
It’s the season of giving – even though donors may have already given their year-end gift to your nonprofit, they may still be searching for the perfect gift for friends and family. Don’t be subtle – remind supporters how meaningful it is to give the gift of a tangible impact! Your friends will love the fact that their gift helps fight food insecurity, helps a pet get adopted during the holidays or means that fewer children will be without toys this holiday season.
Premium tools help you transition #GivingTuesday to year-end fundraising
Take advantage of Mightycause’s promotion for free advanced fundraising tools until the end of the year. See what your average gift size is (so you can plan to encourage donors to give more!) and look at your donor retention rates. Use the Supporters tool to find your major donors and big P2P fundraisers and make a plan to reach out. Use the Custom Donation Page on your website for simplified giving. Plus, you can use Data Connect to integrate your data from Mightycause to your marketing program to help you create thank you notes or keep up engagement in an automated way during the busiest time of the year!
And take a deeper look at your data from past campaigns and start planning for the year ahead. Where are there opportunities for more fundraising appeals in your calendar? How can you move mid-level donors to major donors online? Don’t miss out on using these tools to plan out your EOY campaign and beyond!
Incorporate volunteer opportunities
This is the time of year where supporters tend to seek out more volunteer opportunities. If your organization sees a higher number of volunteers this time of year, be sure to incorporate an opportunity for an ask. With your nonprofit’s free preview of Premium, you have access to the Calls to Action tool that allows you to post volunteer opportunities right on your Mightycause profile.
Set up a kiosk for donors to give, or send a thank-you email with the link to your Mightycause fundraiser.
Or, encourage your #GivingTuesday donors to see their donation in action by stopping by your facility for a volunteer opportunity. This will help you set up more touch points before the end of the year, meaning you’ll have more opportunities to ask for a donation!
Treat Dec. 31 as Act II of #GivingTuesday
As previously mentioned, the last 5 weeks of the year are often the biggest opportunities to fundraise for your nonprofit. So, be sure to set up emails and set goals for your EOY campaign in the same way you did your #GivingTuesday campaign.
Even if you’re not in the office for the holidays, your donors are still checking emails! So, plan to send out emails on Dec. 30 reminding donors their last chance to give in 2017 is less than 24 hours away. Donors who give on Dec. 31 are more likely to be motivated by tax-deductions, so don’t forget to remind them of this very real deadline to make their gift!
Lastly, it cannot be stressed enough: tie fundraising goals to Dec. 31 to help motivate donors. Transition #GivingTuesday to year-end fundraising by increasing your #GivingTuesday goals or setting similar ones to encourage donors to benchmark what you’d like to raise. Then, keep donors updated on your progress throughout the day!