It’s almost time for another #GivingTuesday, and this year’s day of giving will take place on December 3. Whole Whale put together some predictions, statistics and facts for #GivingTuesday 2019 and we are looking forward to seeing the incredible impact that this giving day has this year!
#GivingTuesday 2019 is expected to bring in about $502 million, which is a 26 percent increase over last year’s #GivingTuesday. In 2018, $380 million and 3.6 million gifts were donated on #GivingTuesday. Throughout the whole of 2018, $427 billion was donated, which represented 2.05 percent of the total 2018 U.S. GDP. The amount that #GivingTuesday contributes to the GDP has continued to stay around that 2 percent, however, as the amount donated continues to grow each year, we expect that percentage to increase in the years to come.
We’ve highlighted many ways that individuals can participate on #GivingTuesday, but it’s also essential that nonprofits make sure they are prepared for this big giving opportunity. Whole Whale has a host of recommendations. Here are some of our favorites:
- Most essential and most obvious, make sure that you have joined #GivingTuesday! Make sure that your organization is listed on the website and that you have access to all the resources that #GivingTuesday has to offer.
- Create a calendar invite to remind those on your email lists to participate in #GivingTuesday. Make sure to include instructions and links so that your donors can easily get to the right place and make their donations.
- Create a #GivingTuesday-specific landing page on your website so there’s no confusion about where donors should be submitting their donations. The more donors have to search, the more likely you are to lose them mid-donation.
- Take advantage of matching gift opportunities and put a time constraint on it where gifts will only be matched for a certain amount of time before or during #GivingTuesday.
- Take advantage of social media. #GivingTuesday was made for social media conversations (I mean, come on, it’s already its own hashtag!) so join the Twitter chatter and promote your organization on social media by utilizing the hashtag.
- Speaking of social media, have you heard of the #Unselfie? A picture is worth a thousand words, so encourage your staff and your donors to post an #Unselfie and tag your organization after they’ve donated. Share and interact with these posts to highlight the generosity of your amazing donors!
- Add an incentive. If your organization raises a certain amount of money, maybe you will throw a pie in the face of your executive director, dunk your CEO in a dunk tank, send a gift to all your donors. Whatever it is, add a little extra motivation for some added fun.
- Say “thank you” before, during and after #GivingTuesday. You know you’ll receive donations, so thank your donors for considering your organization. You may want to schedule an automatic reply to go out to donors as soon as they donate, and then make sure to create a personalized message immediately following #GivingTuesday. This message could be individualized to each donor, or you can create a video of your CEO saying “thank you” that you send out as an email and post across your social media channels. No matter which method you choose, make sure your donors know just how thankful you are for their participation.
- Track your progress. If donors can see how close you are to meeting your goal, it may motivate them to give more to help you reach it.
We hope you will take these ideas and so many more to heart and jump on the #GivingTuesday bandwagon! Wishing all nonprofits a successful #GivingTuesday 2019!