Are You Ready for Giving Tuesday?
You might think after shopping on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, people would have little money left. But Giving Tuesday has grown tremendously since its inception in 2012. It’s now a global event, with annual U.S. donations of $2.7 billion to various charities last year.
The money is out there, and so is the good will of millions of donors … including yours!
Here are some tips on crafting an effective Giving Tuesday campaign to get a slice of the pie for your Rescue Mission.
Get specific. Choose a particular project or program your Mission needs help with. It might be new beds for your men’s dormitory, transitional housing for program graduates, or a new chapel for your youth ministry. Your donors love contributing to something practical and tangible. Follow it up with a specific, achievable fundraising goal.
Be social. Use social media to create a Giving Tuesday fundraiser and spark interest in your project and your fundraising goal. Share the need, remind donors of their importance to your Mission, and show them how they’ll make a difference.
Strike a match. Leverage the power of Giving Tuesday with a matching gift from your major donors. It’s a great way to engage your most generous friends – and one of the most effective ways to encourage giving among your other donors. Also, don’t forget to ask your donors if their employers will match their contributions as well!
Make plans. Create a Giving Tuesday landing page. Schedule your social media posts leading up to Giving Tuesday, as well as an email and follow-up with links to your landing page. And designate a team member to monitor social media and field phone calls on Giving Tuesday.
Take advantage. There are plenty of free resources to help you maximize your Giving Tuesday fundraising. You’ll find Giving Tuesday logos, stock photos and videos, GIFs and Instagram sticker, and Canva templates at GivingTuesday.org/logos/.
Follow up. Your donors will want to know how they’ve helped. Report back on social media or in a newsletter article with the total raised on Giving Tuesday and let them know how your project is progressing.
Start now! Giving Tuesday is November 28. It will be here before you know it – and you’ll certainly be busy with Thanksgiving as well! If you need help, MDM Fundraising has your back. We’ve created a content calendar with suggestions on when and where to post. Download it here!
Giving Tuesday is a wonderful opportunity for your Mission to energize your entire donor base and do some real, lasting good for those you serve.
If you’re looking for more information on how MDM Fundraising can help you raise more, contact Dan Rogers at drogers@mdmfundraising.com.
By Raianne Vasquez
Preschedule Posts
As a nonprofit, we know you’re often a one man or woman show, so time is of the essence.
One of the best time savers is pre-scheduling posts for all your social media platforms. This allows you to create future posts, which will be saved and shared automatically on the dates you choose. This can be done up to a month in advance, so you don’t have to get on Facebook every day to create posts.
You should, however, be monitoring engagement on posts every day, regardless of whether you use a posting tool.
There are a variety of different programs that offer this tool, but two of the best are Hootsuite and Buffer. They offer several different plans with a varying number of social media platforms, posts and prices. Additionally, both Hootsuite and Buffer offer 50% discount for nonprofits on their Professional Plan and Buffer has a free option which allows you to use their scheduling platform free of charge with up to 3 social media platforms.
Engagement
Once you have consistent content, the next step is engagement. There are several ways to engage your donors via social media, but simply having a direct call to action often creates the best engagement.
As fundraisers, we automatically think “donation” when we hear call to action. However, in social media especially, this can also include prompts to “comment how the Mission has helped you,” “share this post,” or “like our Page.” Adding one of these calls to action to the end of your post can make a huge difference!
The goal of engagement is to create a two-way conversation with your donors. Social media gives you an opportunity to engage in a one-on-one way. However, this means that your response to donors’ comments and shares is important. Donors will often ask questions in the comments about ways to get involved, and you don’t want to miss those opportunities to share more about your Ministry!
In conclusion? Don’t fret if you know your social media isn’t up to par—just use these three tips to help get yourself organized, scheduled and engaged!
By Raianne Vasquez
Vasquez is a Client Account & Digital Manager with MDM Fundraising. She has been with MDM since 2018 and brings expertise in Facebook, display and Google Ads marketing. She is a skilled social media master with a keen eye for high-impact digital design and a passion for helping others tell their story through digital media. She can be reached at rvasquez@mdmfundraising.com