Giving Tuesday has become one of the most popular days of the year for activists and non-profits. It is the first Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday and is often the biggest fundraising day of the entire calendar year. 

Since its conception in 2012, the day has become a staple for fundraising and has been used as a way to denounce the overconsumption that is commonly associated with the holiday season. The day has become a symbol of activism for worthy causes across different areas. 

Non-profit organizations participating in Giving Tuesday initiatives have managed to raise billions of dollars for different causes and used the day to champion worthy causes. In 2022, a record-breaking amount of $3.1 Billion was raised on Giving Tuesday to go towards different worthy causes. This figure represents the significance of the event and its global importance.

This year, Giving Tuesday will be organized on 28th November. The day offers a great opportunity for non-profits to launch fundraising campaigns and take their existing programs to the next level. 

However, to successfully execute a Giving Tuesday campaign, you need to start putting in the work and effectively plan your campaign. In today’s article, we’ll take a deep dive into what you can do to make your campaign successful. 

Coming up with Giving Tuesday Ideas

Before going deeper into the specifics of your Giving Tuesday campaign, you need to develop creative ways to structure your campaign and present your cause to the audience. People don’t just donate because they see a social media post. They donate because they’re emotionally moved by the story or a video on social media. 

Your Giving Tuesday campaign needs to focus on inspiring people and triggering their empathy to form emotional connections. So start your Giving Tuesday planning by considering the people you want to inspire. Once you understand your audience, you can start thinking about ways to connect with them emotionally. 

Tracking What’s Has Been Successful 

The best way to come up with something that might work is to evaluate what has already worked in the past. You need to study successful GivingTuesday campaigns by leading non-profits to understand their advantages and to try and replicate their success with your own efforts. 

Work With a Diverse Team 

The key to any successful GivingTuesday campaign is to mobilize people to support a cause that you’re passionate about. A great way to do that is by assembling a diverse team. Here’s how it will help. 

• Different Perspectives – A diverse team includes people from different backgrounds and walks of life. This diversity can be a strong tool when trying to develop a campaign that resonates with your audience. You want to make sure that you have unique perspectives on the table so that different segments of people support your cause. 

• Cultural Understanding – When your team has members from different cultures, it can make a massive difference in creating a culturally sensitive campaign. You can recognize potential risks that a homogenous team might ignore. 
• Linguistic Skills – If your team has a diverse composition, you’ll have individuals with diverse language skills. This can be a major asset if you’re trying to create content for a multilingual audience on social media. Having native translations for your message on social media can make a massive difference in your GivingTuesday campaign’s success. 
• Reaching New Demographics – With team members from different backgrounds, your non-profit will be able to tailor your campaign to different demographics. This versatility can open up your doors to new donors and allow you to come up with innovative ways to connect with that audience. 

Having a diverse team is not just about the optics; it will also help you develop creative ways to connect with your audience. Having different voices at the table can make a huge impact on the effectiveness of your messaging as well. 

Researching Your Competitors 

You’re competing for attention whenever you’re running a digital campaign. If you want to perform better than your competitors, you need to understand what they’re doing and what kind of results they’re getting. 

Benchmarking Performance – By researching what your competitors are doing, you’ll be able to get an insight into what is working on Giving Tuesday. Look for metrics like impressions, engagements, and broader activity. These benchmarks will serve as a critical tool to help you understand the market conditions and identify trends that are working. 

Avoiding Repetitive Mistakes – Analyzing your competitors’ campaigns will also allow you to avoid making the same mistakes as them. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you can identify gaps in their approach and figure out areas where you can outperform them. You can also think of ways to offer a new perspective and provide a compelling narrative to your target audience. 

Target Audience – Your competitors’ campaign can be a valuable resource to understand their target audience. Try to figure out who they’re targeting and why. This information will help you refine your own targeting strategies and messaging for a more effective campaign. You can also use this data to create lookalike audiences and improve the odds of success for your campaign.

Stages of Setting Up a Campaign

When you’re thinking about launching your Giving Tuesday campaign, it is ideal to break down your efforts into stages. 

Stage 1 – Visiting the Giving Tuesday Website 

Before you start planning the broader stages of your campaign, it is ideal to visit the official Giving Tuesday website. It features valuable guides and resources that will help you get started. You’ll also learn about the mission and its motives there. 

Stage 2 – Look for Successful Past Campaigns 

Studying past Giving Tuesday campaigns will provide you with inspiration and insight into what might work. This research will also help you understand the different strategies you can take to appeal to your supporters and launch your campaign. 

Stage 3 – Pre-Planning Your Objectives 

Every successful campaign starts with proper planning. You need to define your primary goals, audience, and messaging before beginning the campaign. Create a list of actionable tasks and allocate resources to ensure that you’re setting yourself up for success. 

Stage 4 – Creating Content for Social Media 

Once you’ve decided on the audience and the messaging, you need to make your messaging appealing by using mediums like graphics, infographics, videos, and other forms of content. It is essential to create content that is visually appealing and has shareable value. This will help expand the reach of your message organically. 

Stage 5 – Creating Your Social Pages

To maximize the odds of success, you need to set up your campaign on the right fundraising platform and social media. Ensure that your campaign is effectively set-up on the right platform and customized with your branding and visuals. Supplement the pages with inspirational stories to drive your supporters to take action. 

Stage 6 – Launch 

Once you reach the big day, it is time to formally launch your campaign and share it across social media. Make sure you maximize the buzz by sending emails, tweeting, and encouraging your followers to share it in their circles. You want to leverage your network and ensure that all efforts are aligned with your strategy to make the campaign come to life. 

However, your job is not finished at the execution stage. You also need to follow up with the results to analyze your performance. 

Follow your Results

When it comes to your campaign, the process doesn’t finish when your Giving Tuesday campaign goes live. You need to stay proactive and track results to ensure that you get the ideal results. 

It is important to focus on key metrics and to tweak your campaign until the results start coming in. Your metrics will provide a dynamic insight into how different channels are performing. This will allow you to make well-informed decisions throughout the course of the campaign. 

Your post-campaign analysis will give you the chance to review your tactics and pinpoint areas that need work. Due to the recurring nature of this event, your learning outcomes will prove to be a valuable resource in making your other events a success. Additionally, tracking the results of your campaign will give you the insight you need to optimize your organizational digital strategy and get better results. 

Looking for Marketing Tips for your non-profit? Check Out these 6 Marketing Tips For Nonprofits. 

Giving Tuesday Campaign Ideas

Idea 1 – Sharing Stories to Change Lives

You can create a campaign encouraging your donors to share their personal stories about kindness and empathy. For each story shared, you can engage your corporate donors to use their hashtag and donate a certain amount to your cause. The more stories that are posted, the more funding you will receive. You can invite participants to post with a particular hashtag to encourage activity. 

It can also be a great way to collaborate with companies that are looking to expand their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. 

Idea 2 – Running For a Cause 

You can organize a digital fitness challenge where you invite participants to run a particular distance for your cause. You can reach out to sponsors for your event, and donations will go towards the Giving Tuesday initiative. This idea is a great way to appeal to people who are into physical fitness and philanthropy. 

The campaign will promote a healthier lifestyle while also engaging a broader community in supporting your cause. Whether it is a 5K run or a series of smaller challenges, you can use this as a way to raise awareness and funds. 

Idea 3 – Interactive Virtual Auction 

With the growth of digital assets like Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), you can collaborate with artists to auction their art and support your cause. The virtual auction can feature digital paintings, art, music, or experiences that can be sold to raise funds for your Giving Tuesday campaigns. The interactive auction can raise excitement and make your audience participate actively. 

The foundation of any successful Giving Tuesday campaign is the ability to create a connection with your target audience. You need to generate a buzz that builds up to the final day and figure out ways to energize your audience on social media. Additionally, it is worthwhile to have conversations with your corporate donors to see if they can match contributions. 

However, it can be pretty challenging to handle all the digital resources that you need to put together to execute a successful Giving Tuesday campaign. That is where Sunan comes in!

We make executing a successful Giving Tuesday campaign easy by providing you with across-the-board support. Our team takes a hands-on approach to help you with all your digital resources and works collaboratively to deliver results. We’ve helped over 25 companies with Giving Tuesday campaigns, and we would love to help you make a difference as well!

Do you have any questions about your GivingTuesday campaign? Let us know in the comments below!