Eleven Steps to #GivingTuesday Success
#GivingTuesday is the largest day dedicated to giving back to charitable organizations on a global scale.
Now in its seventh year, #GivingTuesday 2018 is expected to gain the greatest awareness and support in its history.
With over $300 million raised by nonprofits on #GivingTuesday 2017, you won’t want to miss out on the momentum this year!
To ensure your fundraising efforts are successful, follow these eleven simple steps:
1. Choose a Giving Platform
At GiveGab, we make it easy for nonprofits to sign up and create a campaign in no time at all. Campaigns are fully customizable to fit your brand, and there are automated emails already set up to be sent out to your supporters following their donation.
Plus, nonprofits who are using one of our advanced fundraising plans, Boost or Launch, get to fundraise with waived platform fees for the full 24 hours on November 27!
Learn more by visiting Giving Tuesday on GiveGab.
If you’re looking for an advanced fundraising solution that is fully customizable and adaptable to your own website, we encourage to learn more about our Enterprise plan.
2. Create Your Campaign
You can customize and launch your #GivingTuesday campaign in a matter of minutes on GiveGab. We also suggest that you invest some time in creating a unique brand that combines #GivingTuesday with your nonprofit’s current branding – if you haven’t already done so for prior campaigns.
Learn more about how to customize a GiveGab campaign in this video:
3. Educate Your Team
Learn from the pros this #GivingTuesday by finding free education sessions and webinars to attend. There are also plenty of blog articles, infographics, and even eBooks that dive into how to be successful on this giving day, all available on our #GivingTuesday Resources page.
4. Use Timelines & Templates
Knowing what you should do and when you should do it will take away a lot of the guesswork for you and your team, freeing up precious time to focus on the things that will ultimately make your campaign more successful.
Fortunately, there are free timelines and messaging templates readily available to anyone who visits our official #GivingTuesday on GiveGab site. Help yourself!
5. Assign Your Team
Getting your staff and volunteers more effectively involved in the big day can be as simple as assigning each person with specific tasks. For instance, you could have one person solely on social media while another is responsible for outreach to supporters, and yet another on point for outreach to any new donors throughout the day.
We have an entire article dedicated to creating your giving day team that includes assigned tasks and responsibilities for each person!
6. Rally Your Board Members
Make sure your board members are all on board for #GivingTuesday! Follow these three simple steps to get them involved: Ask, educate, and support.
7. Engage Community Partners
Reach out to a local business or two and ask them to help promote your #GivingTuesday campaign. The benefits for these businesses include:
- Heightened credibility within the community for helping out a charitable cause
- An additional venue for advertising through your campaign or website
- New creativity for promotional efforts
An example of a creative promotional effort would be a local coffee shop donating a percentage of all proceeds on #GivingTuesday to your campaign and calling it “Lattes for those who care a latte!” or “Give a local family a break during your coffee break!”.
8. Spread the Word
Use every avenue you have immediate access to, and beyond, to get the word out about your campaign. The last thing you’ll want to happen is to discover that no one knew about your participation in the giving day!
Check your ability to utilize the following channels:
- Social Media – Facebook and Twitter
- Local email list service – Typically free to nonprofits
- Local radio stations
- Local newspapers and online news sources
- Any channels your board members and other supporters have access to!
9. Utilize Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
In other words, be contagious this #GivingTuesday!
The success of #GivingTuesday as a general giving movement has been highly dependent on the power of collaboration and social media. And at the individual nonprofit level, peer-to-peer fundraising (also called p2p) is also paramount.
Use this extensive #GivingTuesday Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Guide to help you get started:

10. Use Branded Promotions
There are a lot of promotional materials already branded to #GivingTuesday that are free to download and use for your campaign efforts. It’s ideal to customize your own, especially if you’ve created a unique brand for your #GivingTuesday campaign. However, beautifully branded promotions are available on both the official #GivingTuesday website and on GiveGab’s #GivingTuesday Resources page.

11. Keep the Momentum Going
You’ll want to keep your supporters coming back to your mission after the big day, and the best way to do that is with tailored stewardship.
Invest the time and resources it takes to make your #GivingTuesday donors feel extra special for supporting you and leave a lasting impression on them that will bond them even more tightly to your cause.
Take advantage of our #GivingTuesday promotion!