#GivingTuesday Strategies For Event Fundraising

In case you haven’t heard yet, Thanksgiving is earlier than normal this year, still the fourth Thursday in November but not the last one. To fill up that extra time between Thanksgiving and Christmas we have created a new opportunity for you to raise money. If Hallmark can create Valentine’s Day, we can create #GivingTuesday.

In all seriousness, #GivingTuesday is a real day and a great opportunity to engage your event fundraisers this holiday season. A movement to celebrate and provide incentives to give, #GivingTuesday is national day of giving on November 27, 2012. This first-of-its-kind effort hopes to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season.

If your event participants are currently fundraising; host an online fundraising contest and encourage your participants to fundraise on #GivingTuesday. Offer incentives for the largest number and amount of donations. Additionally you can reward participants who send the most emails, update their webpage and make self donations.

#GivingTuesday is also a great way to engage your participants during the off season. If registration is open for the next year’s event provide a discount code and offer an incentive to those that make a donation when they register. If registration is not open, it doesn’t hurt to ask your constituents to give in another way. #GivingTuesday is about giving donations or time; just provide them the opportunity to give.

How to Promote #GivingTuesday

1. Become a #GivingTuesday partner at www.givingtuesday.org
2. Highlight your support of #GivingTuesday via your website, communications and social media channels the entire month of November.
3. Email your constituents before the Thanksgiving holiday and the morning of #GivingTuesday and midday. Treat #GivingTuesday like you would December 31 in an end of the year campaign.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Palo

Nancy Palo is a senior consultant on Blackbaud’s strategic services team with an emphasis on peer-to-peer fundraising. She brings more than 10 years experience in the event fundraising space enjoys helping nonprofits implement solutions to increase revenue through innovative online fundraising strategies. Prior to joining Blackbaud in April 2012, Nancy worked at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in California and New York where see oversaw the Society’s peer to peer fundraising campaigns, raising more than $30 million during her eight years with the organization. She studied communications and business at the University of San Diego and works remotely from her home office in her 400 square foot apartment in New York City. Connect with Nancy on Twitter at @fundraising101.