Your Marketing Checklist for #GivingTuesday 2018
#GivingTuesday is fast approaching! But don’t worry, there is still time to get a marketing plan in place that will amplify your success.
The tips in this article will cover email and social media scheduling and themes as well as some other helpful ways you can promote your #GivingTuesday campaign.
We hope these tips will help you keep your supporters engaged and excited up to and after November 27th!
Email Schedule and Themes
November is pretty much here! With a little under a month left it is time to build the hype for your campaign. Share your organization’s story and how it relates to the mission of #GivingTuesaday.
You will want to use stories that are compelling and specific. The point is to help potential donors imagine the direct impact of their donation.
Appropriate email frequency can differ between organizations, but one per week (preferably Wednesday or Thursday between 10 AM and 3 PM) leading up to #GivingTuesday is a good starting place.
Email Themes
- A call for peer-to-peer fundraisers: If you are a GiveGab user, you can invite your supporters to act as fundraisers from your Giving Tuesday campaign or they can voluntarily click the “Start Fundraising” button.
How to Use GiveGab Peer-to-peer Fundraising
- Introduce the idea of #GivingTuesday and reference your campaign. Make sure to tie it to your mission.
- Tell a stewardship story (with images) and finish with an ask around contributing to your #GivingTuesday campaign.
- Highlight specific projects or programs that #GivingTuesday gifts will help to enhance.
- Go with a Thanksgiving or holiday-themed email and tie it into your #GivingTuesday campaign.
- Find more great ideas here.
Important: Make sure that each of your emails has a call-to-action that links to your #GivingTuesday campaign or page. We recommend a large button centered at the bottom of your email or a bolded link.
Social Media Schedule & Themes
Social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are an incredible resource when promoting an event. There is a wealth of information on social media posting frequency.
It may take some time for you to find the right strategy for your organization, based on the amount of time you can afford and level of engagement you see from your supporters on social media.
In #GivingTuesday’s resource materials they suggest ramping up social media posts, starting the second week in November, to “1-2 posts on Facebook and Instagram, with 3+ Tweets a day”.
It is also a good idea to create a Facebook event for your organization’s #GivingTuesday campaign.
Social Media Themes
- Share inspiring stories from your organization’s work.
Example Story from SPCA of Tompkins County
- Share pictures of your supporters doing awesome things.
- Talk about your programs that will benefit from #GivingTuesday.
- Share times that past gifts have produced results for your organization.
- Take an #unselfie – https://twitter.com/hashtag/unselfie
- More ideas as well as what hashtags to use are listed out in detail here.
Other Marketing & Outreach Ideas
What else besides email and social media postings can you do? Use these ideas to get creative:
- Host a #GivingTuesday party at your organization. Provide lunch and bring folks in to chat. Use this as an opportunity to energize your key supporters. Take photos and videos of the event for use on social media.
- Motivate donors by offering prizes! Give out a t-shirt, a mug, or event just a certificate of excellence.
- Partner with local businesses to spread the word. Often businesses are willing to offer a matching gift or provide prizes in the form of gift certificates, products or services.
- Ask supporters to create a videos talking about why they love your organization. Have them share these on social media.
We hope you found this article helpful. If you have any questions, please reach out to us using the little blue chat bubble on the bottom right hand of any GiveGab page.
Find additional #GivingTuesday resources below!