What Does Your Nonprofit Do After GivingTuesday?
There’s always a big lead-up to GivingTuesday: Lots of tips for GivingTuesday success. Loads of planning. Plenty of work.
But when it’s all over, what does your nonprofit do next?
It may be tempting to move immediately to end-of-year fundraising. But the days and weeks after GivingTuesday are an ideal time to analyze and follow up on your efforts.
Here are some tips to get you started:
- Analyze your GivingTuesday donors.
This is less about counting dollars raised through GivingTuesday (though, that’s important, too), and more about digging deeper into who made the donations. Some things to consider:- How many first-time donors came in through your GivingTuesday activities? How many were returning donors? Did returning donors give more compared to the last time they donated?
- You might find that GivingTuesday is a great time to increase your pool of donors and therefore want to plan a follow-on drip campaign just for them (more on that below).
- For returning donors, it might make sense to start communicating about GivingTuesday earlier next year. You might even add a peer-to-peer element by asking them to ask a friend to give.
- Follow up.
As a nonprofit professional, you know it’s important to thank your donors after every contribution they make. Now take it a step further for even greater impact:- Follow up with all GivingTuesday donors to let them know how much you raised and what that means for your organization’s mission.
- For new donors, include a special message that lets them know more about your organization and your mission.
- For returning donors, let them know that you recognize they’ve given before. Acknowledge how they’ve participated in the past, and thank them for their continued support.
- Consider suppressing your GivingTuesday donors from end-of-year giving campaigns.
I know. This might sound extreme since end-of-year is when you likely bring in a large portion of your donations. But stay with me here.
Think about this from the donor’s point of view. Donors might be turned off by a flurry of asks for funds when they just donated a few weeks before. You could lose new donors almost as soon as you gain them. You might even lose repeat donors.
This doesn’t mean that you don’t send anything to them at all. But, consider a different set of end-of-year messages for your GivingTuesday donors.
For example, for new donors, consider an email “drip” campaign that spans several weeks and might look something like this:- Email 1: Thank you email letting them know your GivingTuesday results and telling them more about your organization and your mission.
- Email 2: Let them know your end of year fundraising is in full swing to support your programs for next year. Let them know more about those programs.
- Email 3: Let them know other ways they might support your nonprofit in the future, including advocacy, volunteer opportunities, and peer-to-peer fundraising programs.
- Make sure you have the right technology in place.
You might find that putting the tips in this article to work is difficult given your donor management or fundraising systems. It may be time to re-assess the solutions you have in place to ensure your technology supports your needs as your organization grows. Cathexis Partners can help you review your organization’s technology needs and find and implement the right solutions to move you forward. Contact us to talk about your nonprofit’s technology needs and goals.
GivingTuesday has become an incredible movement to support the work of nonprofit organizations. And while every nonprofit’s approach may be different, taking some time to analyze and follow up on your GivingTuesday activities can go a long way toward cultivating donor relationships and ensuring your success for years to come.
