Another Giving Tuesday has come and gone with over $168 million donated, up 44% from 2015.
That gift volume doesn’t come without an even greater number of appeals, with email likely driving a majority of it. If your inbox was anything like mine, it was full by Noon.
I isolated all of the email appeals I received and grouped them into two categories: orgs I have never given to and orgs I had given only once to (last year).
Below is an analysis of those emails, highlighting several features of the message and their asks.
Group 1
This group is comprised of 17 emails sent and received on 11/29/2016. Email recipient has never donated to these orgs.
# of orgs: 16
Emails #9 and #17 are from same org (a donation was not made between emails).
Time Sent (eastern):
- 12:00 am
- 7:35 am
- 8:31 am
- 8:32 am
- 9:01 am
- 9:04 am
- 9:17 am
- 9:29 am
- 10:01 am
- 10:18 am
- 10:30 am
- 11:06 am
- 11:06 am
- 11:35 am
- 12:05 pm
- 12:44 pm
- 11:00 pm
14/17 emails were sent before Noon eastern.
Subject Lines:
- “#GIVINGTUESDAY IS HERE!”
- Giving Tuesday is the perfect day to support (Org Name)
- Today Is The Day! ?
- #GivingTuesday is today – REPRESENT with (Org Name)!
- TODAY IS #GIVINGTUESDAY – PLEASE SUPPORT (Org Name)
- Open the door for a child!
- It’s #GivingTuesday and we’re launching the (Org Name) Christmas Catalog!
- On this #GivingTuesday, consider the gift of healing and justice
- Happy #GivingTuesday!
- Veterans to Sailors – Giving Tuesday
- Donate TODAY for #GivingTuesday!
- Join me on our conference call… #GivingTuesday
- Our match challenge just got bigger!
- Your Giving Tuesday gift supports critical community services
- Happy #GivingTuesday!
- (Org Name) love on Giving Tuesday
- JUST 4 HOURS LEFT TO GIVE
13/17 email subject lines mentioned Giving Tuesday.
Was Email Sent from Role-Based Email Address ([email protected], [email protected], etc.)?
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- No
7/17 emails were sent from a role-based email address.
Did Email Reference What Type of Donor I am (never given)?
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
0/17 emails referenced donor type.
Did Email Use My Name?
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
2/17 emails greeted donor by name.
Did Email Explain what Giving Tuesday is in the Body Content?
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
7/17 emails explained what Giving Tuesday is in the body content. 6 of those 7 also referenced Giving Tuesday in the subject line.
7/17 emails referenced Giving Tuesday in the subject line but did not explain it in the body content.
Did Email Ask for One Specific Gift Amount?
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes (monthly)
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
4/17 emails asked for a specific gift amount.
Did Email Ask for a Gift Towards One Specific Purpose (unique defined campaign, fund, project, match challenge, etc.)?
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes (same as #9)
6/17 (5 orgs) asked for a gift towards one specific purpose.
Email Links to This Type of Donation Page:
Native = an embedded donation form on a dedicated webpage on nonprofit’s domain (“nonprofit.org/donate”)
- Third-Party (PayPal)
- Native
- Native
- Third-Party (Razoo)
- Third-Party (PayPal)
- Third-Party (iCheck Gateway)
- Native
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Native
- Third-Party (Crowdster)
- Native
- Native
- Native
- Native
- Third-Party (MobileCause)
- Third-Party (PaymentSpring)
- Native (same as #9)
9/17 (8 orgs) directed recipients to a donation page on their organization’s website/domain. 0 of those 9 uniquely referenced Giving Tuesday.
Group 2
This group is comprised of 23 emails sent and received on 11/29/2016. Email recipient has only donated once to these orgs.
# of orgs: 23
Time Sent (eastern):
- 5:00 am
- 5:04 am
- 6:03 am
- 6:06 am
- 6:27 am
- 7:01 am
- 7:04 am
- 7:34 am
- 8:05 am
- 9:01 am
- 9:16 am
- 9:22 am
- 9:30 am
- 9:39 am
- 9:43 am
- 9:57 am
- 10:10 am
- 10:17 am
- 10:41 am
- 10:58 am
- 10:30 am
- 1:49 pm
- 4:49pm
21/23 emails were sent before Noon eastern.
Subject Lines:
- Steve, you can make a difference today!
- The Story of Bobbie & Paul
- Today is #GivingTuesday
- Join Us for #GivingTuesday — Invest in Women & Girls!
- Up early? Us too.
- #GivingTuesday: Support (Org Name)!
- Something special is happening today…
- Don’t forget! Today is Giving Tuesday
- Support (Org Name). Change the Future of Chicago. #GivingTuesday
- Will you join me?
- Can (Org Name) Count on Your #GivingTuesday Gift Today?
- Consider a gift to (Org Name) this #GivingTuesday
- Embrace your power to act
- Today is Giving Tuesday!
- Join us on #GivingTuesday
- #GivingTuesday Is Here – You Can Help!
- RE: the global day of giving back
- Giving Tuesday: Lessons from a 15-month-old brain tumor patient
- Give A Mentor this #GivingTuesday – TODAY!
- Your Donation Connects Kids to a Whole New World of Edible Learning
- #GivingTuesday: READY. SET. GIVE! ?
- Mentor, Advocate or Donate on #GivingTuesday
- We know you’ve gotten a lot of emails today.
14/23 email subject lines mentioned Giving Tuesday.
Was Email Sent from Role-Based Email Address ([email protected], [email protected], etc.)?
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
20/23 emails were sent from a role-based email address.
Did Email Reference What Type of Donor I am (LYBUNT)?
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
0/23 emails referenced donor type.
Did Email Use My Name?
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
10/23 emails greeted donor by name.
Did Email Explain what Giving Tuesday is in the Body Content?
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
9/23 emails explained what Giving Tuesday is in the body content. 6 of those 9 also referenced Giving Tuesday in the subject line.
8/23 emails referenced Giving Tuesday in the subject line but did not explain it in the body content.
Did Email Ask for One Specific Gift Amount?
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
5/23 emails asked for a specific gift amount.
Did Email Ask for a Gift Towards One Specific Purpose (unique defined campaign, fund, project, match challenge, etc.)?
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
- No
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- No
5/23 asked for a gift towards one specific purpose.
Email Links to This Type of Donation Page:
Native = an embedded donation form on a dedicated webpage on nonprofit’s domain (“nonprofit.org/donate”)
- Third-Party (PaymentSpring)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Native *
- Native
- Third-Party (GiveGab)
- Third-Party (Agile Ticketing)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (GiveGab)
- Native
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Native
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (GiveGab)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
- Third-Party (Donor Database)
4/23 directed recipients to a donation page on their organization’s website/domain. 1 of those 4 uniquely referenced Giving Tuesday.
Takeaways
- a majority of these appeals reference “Giving Tuesday” in the subject line
- few that did also explained what it is in the email body
- most emails were sent before Noon eastern
- most orgs only sent one email appeal on Giving Tuesday
- due to the fact that emails lacked personalization, it is safe to assume that these Giving Tuesday campaigns were not segmented
How do these results compare to your efforts? Assuming this is indicative of the whole sector, could we have seen a higher gift volume if certain things about these emails were different? Let me know in the comments below!
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