Digital strategy, Email strategy, Strategic planning
Top-Performing Giving Tuesday Tactics: Strategies That Work
We know that recent years have been a whirlwind for nonprofit fundraisers – for the last three years, our annual Giving Tuesday Report has traced record-breaking moments of philanthropic giving as donors took action to support nonprofits responding in the face of a global pandemic, international emergencies, hurricanes, and more.
And over those years, we’ve tracked the strategies that have made the difference for nonprofits on Giving Tuesday, driving record-breaking results in each of those unique fundraising landscapes. With this year’s biggest days in nonprofit fundraising just around the corner, we’re looking at some of those proven strategies that have been driving urgency and action, even in the face of challenges.
Maximizing Your Giving Tuesday Strategy in 2023
At MissionWired, our approach to nonprofit fundraising strategy includes fully-integrated direct marketing services, with an expert for every challenge. Our emphasis on looking to data and testing to inform our strategic choices, paired with our dedication to compelling and authentic storytelling, has been driving results for our partners for years. We’ve kept our eye on the trends in nonprofit fundraising as they’ve emerged each Giving Tuesday, and we’re excited to share the top-performing strategies, proven to drive results for our nonprofit partners since 2020.
Top-Performing Giving Tuesday Strategies
– Get an early start – and don’t shy away from extensions.
Tuesday may only be just one day, but for your busy supporters, an early appeal, calendar event, or deadline extension may give them the extra time they need to get involved in your campaign – and the strategy has proved to strengthen fundraising results a great deal, too.
– Invest in acquisition early to email your largest, best audience.
From 2020 to 2021, we saw the number of first-time donors on Giving Tuesday increase by 46%. In last year’s report, we shared how new donors accounted for 35% of total donations on Giving Tuesday. For many of our nonprofit partners, the strategy that helps bring in new, ready-to-give audiences for their biggest moments is investment in list growth through The Digital Co-Op. We recommend that our nonprofit Co-Op members make their list-growth investments ahead of EOY to acquaint their new audiences with their mission and work ahead of major fundraising moments.
– If you haven’t yet moved into SMS, now’s the time.
When it comes to new and growing channels, SMS fundraising is here to stay for the long haul. We’ve talked about the increasing impact of SMS fundraising in all three of our annual Giving Tuesday reports to date, and in our 2021 report, we shared how an organization that started their SMS program just one month before Giving Tuesday still raised more than $20,000 on that channel alone that day.
Whether you’re just getting started with SMS fundraising or want to strengthen your program, you can access a wealth of insights from our resident SMS expert, AVP Aneesh Gowri, in our recent Q&A, Level Up Your Texting Game.
– Lean into matches.
If your organization has the resources to build up a match pool ahead of Giving Tuesday 2023, this is a fundraising strategy that pays off, year after year. And one trend we often see with matches: When organizations are able to move higher than a 2x multiplier, the results get even stronger.
– Resend top-performing content.
Every year, the results we share in our Giving Tuesday Reports remind us: Email volume is growing and growing. By resending your top-performing email to the audience that didn’t open it the first time, you can increase the reach and impact of your campaigns (with some thoughtful targeting to protect deliverability). One of our nonprofit partners credits this tactic with helping them break into year-over-year growth on Giving Tuesday in 2022.
Looking Ahead: Giving Tuesday 2023
This time of year, we’re working hard with our nonprofit partners to make sure they’re leveraging all the best fundraising strategies as they prepare for Giving Tuesday. You can learn more about the team of experts behind our work, as well as the tools we’re using to drive results, on our website. And if you’d like to keep talking about how our team of strategists can drive record-breaking growth for your fundraising program, learn more about how you can partner with us here.
Interested in more details about how these top fundraising strategies drove results for our nonprofit partners on Giving Tuesday? You can dig back into any of our past Giving Tuesday Reports here:
GT 2022
GT 2021
GT 2020
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