33+ Giving Tuesday Ideas: Expert Tips and Campaigns to Try

Giving Tuesday is fast approaching! Each year, Giving Tuesday occurs the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It’s a day that nonprofits frequently use to encourage additional giving from their supporters.

If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you probably know a little bit about the importance of this holiday celebrating generosity. Likewise, you probably understand the importance of making the most of this day. Giving Tuesday drives donations further and acts as the kickoff to your year-end fundraising strategies.

Here at Bloomerang, we help nonprofits make the most of their fundraising every day through the adoption of comprehensive and data-driven strategies. In this guide, we’ll dive into the top Giving Tuesday ideas, tips, and tricks we’ve compiled through our research and experience in the field. Let’s start by explaining ten expert tips before #GivingTuesday. Then, we’ll dive into more than 20 campaign ideas that your nonprofit can adopt.

You can use the navigation below to jump to the tips and ideas that most interest you. Or, read with us from the top!

Expert Giving Tuesday Tips

1. Keep Giving Tuesday in Perspective
2. Start Planning Early
3. Optimize Your Donation Page
4. Start a Social Media Outreach Campaign
5. Launch an Email Marketing Campaign
6. Test all Software Beforehand
7. Keep in Touch During the Day
8. Focus on Increasing Donor Retention
9. Follow Up After the Campaign
10. Analyze Campaign Data

Giving Tuesday Campaign Ideas

11. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
12. Matching Gifts
13. T-Shirt Fundraiser
14. Wish List
15. Social Media Support
16. Face Mask Fundraiser
17. Volunteer Opportunities
18. Volunteer Grants
19. Virtual Giving Event
20. Crowdfunding Campaign
21. Accept Pledges

22. Fundraising Letters
23. Text-to-Give
24. Product Fundraisers
25. Host a Dinner Event
26. Virtual Tour
27. Interview Constituents
28. Host a 5K
29. Raise Funds on Facebook
30. Introduce a Book
31. Photo Contest
32. Scavenger Hunt
33. Hand-Written Appreciation Notes

Top 10 Expert Giving Tuesday Ideas

1. Keep Giving Tuesday in Perspective

Many nonprofits make the mistake of treating Giving Tuesday as the biggest fundraising event of the year. It is an incredibly important date, and it will do wonders for your fundraising strategy to maximize the day. However, if it’s not your biggest day of fundraising, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

In fact, the graph below shows that while your nonprofit will likely experience a peak in fundraising during Giving Tuesday, the majority of your success will likely occur during consistently the final month of the year. Year-end giving tends to be more lucrative. Keep in mind that Giving Tuesday is the beginning of your year-end fundraising, so the best course of action is to embrace the holiday.

Consider how you’ve approached Giving Tuesday and year-end fundraising in the past. Ask yourself questions such as:

• Were our year-end fundraising results impacted by Giving Tuesday?
• Are your Giving Tuesday donors retained at a higher or lower level than other donors?
• Do Giving Tuesday donors upgrade at the same velocity as donors garnered via other campaigns?
• Did the hours spent preparing and executing your Giving Tuesday strategy yield as much as those hours being spent on other types of campaigns?
• Do survey results from Giving Tuesday donors yield the same level of allegiance to your organization?

Once you have analyzed the results, you can decide how much time and effort should be expended for Giving Tuesday in the future.

If Giving Tuesday gained momentum for your year-end fundraising strategies, caused you to acquire donors who were retained over the years, and yielded many more fundraising dollars than other campaigns, you may decide to maintain or increase your Giving Tuesday efforts.

However, if you found that it took time away from year-end fundraising, attracted donors who lapsed quickly, and didn’t have an amazing fundraising yield, you may decide to take advantage of the day, but scale back on your efforts.

Analyze your own Giving Tuesday stories and successes to determine what’s best for your nonprofit.

For more information about determining the part that Giving Tuesday should play in your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy, check out Bloomerang’s webinar: Don’t Treat Giving Tuesday Like a Hail Mary.

2. Start Planning Early

In order to craft an effective Giving Tuesday strategy, your nonprofit needs a well-built out plan. This means it will take some time to plan out your campaigns. Start drafting your strategy early to make sure your plan is detailed enough to take all important campaign aspects into consideration.

When you craft your strategy, be sure to keep engagement at the forefront of your mind. Increasing donor engagement not only drives fundraising for that campaign but also increases the chances that someone will continue giving in the future.

During the planning process, your nonprofit should be sure to:

• Segment your donor lists to make sure you reach out effectively.
• Draft the copy for emails promoting the campaign to each segment of supporters.
• Craft social media messages (for each platform) to promote the campaign.
• Optimize your donation page (we’ll touch on this more in the next section).
• Draft text message copy for your text message subscribers.

For more Giving Tuesday ideas to plan your campaign for peak supporter engagement, watch Bloomerang’s webinar on Giving Tuesday Engagement essentials.

3. Optimize Giving Tuesday Donation Page

Optimizing your donation page is an essential part of your Giving Tuesday campaign because you’ll receive many of your donations online. Your online page should, therefore, streamline the giving process for your supporters to enhance the experience.

A cumbersome giving experience makes it less likely that donors will complete their donation, leading to donation page abandonment or the refusal to give again in the future. Some aspects of the page that lead to a drawn-out or negative experience include:

• Slow page loading time
• Too many or overly complex questions on the form
• Excess use of images (just one or two will do)
• Lack of a mobile-optimized donation page
• Lack of a well-designed confirmation page
• Lack of a well-crafted confirmation email

Watch out for these factors when analyzing your own donation page. Then, address each one in order to optimize the donation process.

Visit the Giving Tuesday website for a complete Giving Tuesday Toolkit and additional resources about the national day of giving.

4. Social Media Outreach Campaign

Giving Tuesday is a day of online giving, so it’s a best practice for nonprofits to primarily reach out on digital platforms to acquire donations. Specifically, social media will become your best friend for Giving Tuesday ideas.

The following tips will help you leverage social media for your nonprofit’s Giving Tuesday campaign:

• Empower others to raise the money for you. You don’t have to be the one asking for money on Giving Tuesday. Why not organize a group of influential social media users who are passionate about your cause, and have them get the word out for you? They can both post about your campaign and support your peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, crowdfunding, and social media challenges. Check out campaign examples like this one if you need inspiration.
• Making your Giving Tuesday appeal very specific. One way to set your Giving Tuesday appeal apart from your year-end appeal is to make an ask to support a very specific purpose, rather than an unrestricted donation. Considering making Giving Tuesday all about one project or need – something tangible, compelling, and urgent. It will help donors who happen to see both appeals understand that they are different campaigns.
• Participate in Giving Tuesday without asking for money. What if your organization was the one doing the giving? In addition to soliciting gifts, why not take the day to recognize those who support your mission, like donors, volunteers, sponsors, grantees and vendors? You could show off all the things they made possible throughout the year. December 2nd could be #ThankingWednesday! Not a bad way to steward folks before your big annual appeal.

Social media is an important part of Giving Tuesday. Therefore, it’s important that you don’t neglect it! Leverage it as a resource to keep your supporters engaged throughout the campaign.

For additional information about how to leverage social media for Giving Tuesday, check out Bloomerang’s webinar on the subject. Or you can come up with new ideas by analyzing other campaigns like this one by the ASPCA.

5. Email Marketing Campaign

Email marketing is a key aspect of your Giving Tuesday campaign. You should start sending emails early on leading up to the campaign to get your supporters excited about the opportunities it brings.

Bloomerang conducted a study in 2015 of 40 different emails sent out as a part of Giving Tuesday campaigns. Of the emails, 17 of them were for new supporters while 23 were for those who had contributed before.

As you can see, many of these emails had some good qualities while many others had some definite opportunities for improvement. When your organization crafts emails for your Giving Tuesday campaign, be sure to:

• Send the email early in the day. This gives supporters all day to read the email and is respectful of their time.
• Clearly state that the email is in support of Giving Tuesday. Including Giving Tuesday in the subject line immediately shows supporters what the rest of the content will be about.
• Use role-based email addresses when possible. If you have access to role-based email addresses, this will be the best way to establish authority as a fundraiser.
• Mention the type of donor you’re addressing in the email. This shows that you’ve segmented your audience and specified the content of the email.
• Use the donor’s name in the introduction. This establishes a personal connection with your supporter right off the bat.
• Define Giving Tuesday in the message content. Define Giving Tuesday for those supporters who may not have participated in this type of campaign before.
• Ask for a specific gift amount from supporters. Supporters are more likely to contribute when they know how much your organization needs from them.
• Ask for a gift for a specific purpose. Providing supporters with a specific purpose for their gift gives some insight into the impact they will have on your mission, providing them a compelling reason to contribute.
• Direct supporters to your donation page. Give supporters an immediate opportunity to act on your message by providing the link to your donation page.

All of these strategies are used to increase supporter engagement as you send emails. Further maximize this engagement with strategies from Bloomerang’s Giving Tuesday engagement webinar.

6. Test All Software Beforehand

It may seem silly, but checking your donation form(s) to make sure they are working properly is a very prudent task to do before Giving Tuesday. Why? Remember, Giving Tuesday is a day of online giving, and if your donation form(s) isn’t working, or the post-donation process isn’t quite up-to-snuff, you could have a big problem.

One of the worst things that can happen is for you to plan a great Giving Tuesday campaign, only for potential donors to get stuck during the donation process.

Try donating to your own nonprofit to test out the software. When you do so, here are some things to look for:

• Is it easy for website visitors to find your donation page? Make sure it’s easy to find the donation page on your website. Include a prominent call-to-action button leading to the donation page right in the navigation bar on your website for easy accessibility.
• Does the donation page load on all browsers and devices (especially mobile)? Ensuring the donation page is available on any device means that supporters can contribute to the campaign from wherever they are on Giving Tuesday directly from their computers, phones, tablets, or whatever device they have handy.
• Can you fill out the donation form and complete the process with no problems? Go through the donation process yourself on different devices to make sure it will work for your donors as well. Run an actual credit card too to be sure the payment processing system is effective and timely.
• Are you pleased with the content of the confirmation page? Your confirmation page is an important aspect of the giving process. It’s an opportunity to show supporters that their donation went through and to provide additional opportunities to maximize contributions like with a matching gift database.
• Is the email confirmation sent out right away? A prompt confirmation email also shows donors that their contribution was received by your organization. Plus, it’s an immediate way to say “thank you” and provide a gift receipt.
• Is the transaction entered into your donor database automatically? If your donation software and donor database are integrated, this shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s always worth double-checking! Especially when so many transactions take place in one day, the last thing you want is for data to mysteriously go missing during the campaign.

Sure, double-checking the functionality of your donation form may not be the most exciting task in the world, but it can save you a lot of heartache. Don’t let half of Giving Tuesday pass you by before discovering that your online donation forms aren’t working!

Training your team to communicate with supporters and to use the software effectively can be tough. It requires research and patience. You can start that research with training webinars provided by this Giving Tuesday resource.

7. Keep in Touch During the Day

On Giving Tuesday itself, you should make sure to keep in touch with your supporters throughout the day. Plan ahead by creating content that you’ll share with supporters throughout the campaign so that you’re ready to keep up the day of.

Some strategies you might employ to keep in touch with supporters include:

• Posting frequently on social media.
• Sending emails throughout the day.
• Live-streaming to keep in touch with supporters.
• Posting blog articles with updates about the campaign.
• Providing videos and educational content to your supporters.
• Asking for donations at the right time on Giving Tuesday can help increase your organization’s visibility throughout the day.

Frequent communications with supporters will help keep them engaged during the campaign and show that you’re actively involved in the Giving Tuesday as well.

If you’re considering live-streaming content to your supporters, check out this re:Charity article to learn more about the software necessary to do so.

8. Focus on Increasing Donor Retention

When your nonprofit hosts any campaign, one of your primary concerns should be retaining your supporters for the long-run. Giving Tuesday is no different. Your nonprofit should be focused on engaging your supporters to build relationships that last.

The best Giving Tuesday idea is to design a campaign that will not only achieve donations, but also focuses on long-term fundraising success. 

We’ve done the math and discovered that retaining your support is much more cost-efficient and results in more long-term funding than constantly acquiring new supporters. This is because those who have contributed to your campaign before show that they care about the cause and are therefore more likely to respond positively to the right campaign initiative. Also, supporters tend to give more over time when they continue contributing to the same cause over the years.

Check out this example from our donor retention guide showing the impact of a nonprofit increasing their retention rates by just 10%:

To retain your own supporters this Giving Tuesday we recommend the following tips:

• Segment your supporters and personalize communications as much as possible.
• Provide information about how your organization plans to use the funds.
• Tell supporters how the funds were used after the campaign is over.
• Promptly follow up with donors, thanking them for their contributions to the campaign.
• Keep all of the important donor data from the campaign in donor profiles so that you can reach back out in the future.

These are just some of the highlights. If you’re looking for an in-depth review of engagement strategies specifically for your Giving Tuesday campaign, learn more with Bloomerang’s video on the matter.

9. Follow Up After the Campaign

You know the importance of retention for your Giving Tuesday campaign. The best way to accomplish this retention is with an effective follow-up plan for after the campaign. Therefore, during your planning processes, be sure to include this as a key aspect of Giving Tuesday strategies.

The most important strategy to remember is that you need to follow up with supporters effectively and efficiently, meaning you’ll need to segment your supporters. Here are (at least) six ways you should consider segmenting your #GivingTuesday donors:

At or below average gift amount:

1. First-time donors via #GivingTuesday

These folks may have just recently discovered your organization, and are in the greatest need of stewarding. All first-time donors should receive a phone call from your organization. Multiple touches in the first 90 days are recommended, per Dr. Adrian Sargeant. A 3-minute thank-you call boosts 1st-year retention by 30%! On this phone call, you can also determine what compelled them to give and communicate the impact they had on your mission by contributing.

2. Repeat donors via Giving Tuesday (first donation this year)

These folks have given to you before, but for one reason or another, waited until Giving Tuesday to give this year. Find out why by sending them a survey. This can provide some additional insight into your supporter’s motivation to give so that you can increase their engagement throughout the year. 

3. Repeat donors via Giving Tuesday (repeat donation this year)

These folks are your most loyal donors – keep them that way! The biggest danger here is letting the Giving Tuesday gift go unnoticed among their other gifts this year. Treat it just as special as if it was a first-time or major gift. Since this (hopefully) won’t be the only thank you they’ve received from you, do something and personal like sending a handwritten note, a photo, or a quick video to say thanks.

Above average gift amount:

4. First-time donors via Giving Tuesday

5. Repeat donors via Giving Tuesday (first donation this year)

6. Repeat donors via Giving Tuesday (repeat donation this year)

These three segments should be treated similarly to their counterparts above, but with consideration given to the fact that the gift was above your typical gift size. At a minimum, the content of the follow-up letter should be different.

For repeat donors, look to see if the gift represents an upgrade over their previous gift(s). If so, they might be ripe for a major gift or bequest conversation.

If you’re looking for additional information about maximizing fundraising, following up, and communication best practices, our eBook, the Beginner’s Guide to Nonprofit Data Segmentation is a great place to learn more!

10. Analyze Campaign Data

Giving Tuesday is an important holiday during the giving season. Your nonprofit collects a lot of valuable information throughout the day (and leading up to it). Don’t let this information simply sit in your database. Instead, pull a report to analyze the results from the campaign so that you can optimize it for the future.

You may look at metrics such as:

• The number of first-time donors
• The number of repeat supporters
• Email open and click-through rates
• Activities most participated in

Keep these things in mind so that you know what it is that your supporters tend to engage with the most as well as where your organization has opportunities to improve your strategy.

If you realize your communication strategy (which is a key component of any successful Giving Tuesday campaign) is what needs attention, the Nonprofit Communications Professionals Facebook group might help provide some insight and ideas.

Giving Tuesday Campaign Ideas

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Peer-to-peer fundraising is an easy Giving Tuesday idea to leverage social media and expand your network of supporters. Ask your dedicated supporters to raise funds from their friends and family on behalf of your nonprofit. They’ll have their own fundraising page, then spread the word about the opportunity using email, social media, word of mouth, and other outreach strategies.

This is an incredibly effective opportunity if your nonprofit is looking to acquire new supporters because the strategy uses social proof to appeal to new audiences. When an individual sees that their friend supports a worthy cause (like your nonprofit), they’re more likely to pay attention and support that cause as well.

Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are an excellent way to tell your nonprofit’s story (and to allow supporters to tell theirs! Learn more about Giving Tuesday storytelling (and how to leverage social media for your campaign) with this helpful Facebook group.

Matching Gifts

Matching gifts are a part of corporate philanthropy programs designed by a company to support its employees’ philanthropic activities. Specifically, when a company promises a matching gift, they’ll provide an additional donation  to the organization their employee has donated to at a predetermined ratio (usually 1:1).

Spreading the word about matching gifts and encouraging donors to search their eligibility during Giving Tuesday can drastically increase your revenue on this important holiday. Plus, according to Double the Donation, one-third of donors indicated that they would increase the size of their donation if they knew they were eligible for a company match.

Double the Donation also offers a comprehensive guide about corporate matching gift programs for you to reference and take advantage of as one of your Giving Tuesday ideas.

T-Shirt Fundraiser

T-shirt fundraisers are an especially impactful Giving Tuesday idea because it encourages brand marketing even after the campaign. Supporters who purchase and wear their t-shirt featuring your logo act like walking billboards for your mission.

This Giving Tuesday, try offering a specialized “I gave on Giving Tuesday” t-shirt for supporters. You may choose to offer it as an incentive for a donation of a certain amount or for sale as a part of the campaign. Another option is to sell branded merchandise before the campaign, then ask supporters to sport their t-shirts on Giving Tuesday and snap a picture for social media.

As you can see, there are countless ways to increase engagement and donations with a t-shirt fundraiser. You just need to get creative!

If you’re looking for ideas to brand your T-shirts, be sure to use the Giving Tuesday Logos for inspiration.

Wish Lists

Wish lists are an incredibly useful way to immediately show donors the impact of their contributions. Typically, when a donor gives to your organization, you allocate those funds to purchase different things that your nonprofit needs to accomplish your mission. Wish lists take out the middle step of your allocating funds.

Instead, you can provide a wish list registry containing items that your nonprofit needs to accomplish your mission. For example, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide food and supplies for the homeless might create a registry with nonperishable foods, shower products, vitamins, and other useful products. Supporters who purchase these items automatically know the impact of their gift on the organization.

For additional unique fundraising opportunities and ideas, consider consulting the experts and other professionals in the Fundraising for Founders Facebook group.

Social Media Support

In addition to (or in lieu of) donations to your nonprofit, ask supporters to engage with your social media campaign as a Giving Tuesday idea. This is an especially impactful campaign idea if your nonprofit is planning Giving Tuesday during a year of economic turmoil like this one. In other words, just because a supporter may find it difficult to give financially, that doesn’t mean they can’t participate in the campaign.

Ask supporters to share your nonprofit’s content on their personal social media accounts. Invite them to share their connections to your mission, to post images from past events, or to show off their new Giving Tuesday t-shirt. This provides additional marketing for your campaign while encouraging supporters to stay engaged.

If you’re looking for examples and a place to get started the Giving Tuesday Learning Lab on Facebook is a great place to start.

Face Mask Fundraiser

During the pandemic, face masks have become a necessity in everyday life. To go out grocery shopping, pick up food, and even go to work, the majority of people wear masks to keep themselves and everyone else safe from the virus. The good news for your organization is that selling these masks has in turn become a lucrative fundraising strategy!

Add your logo or slogan to your face masks and sell them at Giving Tuesday events or in an online fundraising web store. And these face masks won’t just keep your donors safe—they’ll also help spread the word about your organization and its work.

Volunteer Opportunities

Remember, to get people involved with your Giving Tuesday campaign, they don’t necessarily need to give financially. Keeping supporters engaged on this important day helps ensure your nonprofit’s long-term fundraising success by building relationships.

Offer volunteer opportunities to your supporters to keep them engaged and provide a non-financial method of giving back to your mission. For instance, if you host an event (whether in-person or virtual), try recruiting volunteers to act as discussion leaders or otherwise help the event run smoothly.

Volunteering is a great way to encourage your supporters to keep coming back to support your organization year after year. For other examples about retention and continuous support, MobileCause offers a valuable slideshow with additional ideas.

Volunteer Grants

If your nonprofit does recruit volunteer as a Giving Tuesday idea, don’t forget about the opportunities for volunteer grants that accompany this strategy. Volunteer grants are another form of corporate philanthropy offered by companies as an incentive for supporters to volunteer at nonprofits like yours.

Companies will “match” the volunteer hours that a supporter provides to an organization with a financial contribution. This means your nonprofit can have two important resources this Giving Tuesday: volunteer hours and additional donations.

Virtual Giving Event

Even if you can’t gather together as an organization, a virtual event is an amazing option for a Giving Tuesday idea. Virtual Giving Tuesday events make it easy for supporters to get involved and engage with your organization during this 24-hour period of giving.

Try hosting a fundraising event centered around social media by live-streaming regularly with your supporters. Or, offer an all-day auction, contests, and other activities for them to get involved and help you raise funds.

Always be sure to post your fundraising progress with tools like a fundraising thermometer to keep supporters informed about how close you are to your goal.

Create your own custom, personalized Fundraising Thermometer here.

Crowdfunding Campaign

Crowdfunding campaigns are basically built for social media, making it a great way to connect with supporters for your Giving Tuesday campaign. This idea requires your organization to collect many small donations from a large number of supporters. These donations add up for an effective revenue stream.

Crowdfunding campaigns are a great Giving Tuesday idea if you’re raising money for a specific goal and if you’re looking to expand your donor base. For example, if your organization supports inner-city education, you may host a crowdfunding campaign to raise enough to buy a computer lab for a local school. You’ll likely reach a lot of new supporters and be able to reach back out to them for future campaigns.

Accept Pledges

As we discussed earlier, Giving Tuesday is a great opportunity to earn revenue, but it’s also the beginning of your push for year-end fundraising. Offering the option for donors to pledge to your nonprofit will help engage them for Giving Tuesday and boost your year-end giving campaign.

Of course, when possible, receiving donations for both campaigns is preferable. However, if someone isn’t able to give now, it’s probably worth asking for a pledge to give later.

For a guide about pledge campaigns and how to start yours, check out this Snowball Fundraising guide.

Fundraising Letters

In order to reach as many supporters as possible during Giving Tuesday, we recommend starting early and working on multiple platforms. One effective way to get in touch with supporters before Giving Tuesday begins is by conducting a fundraising letter campaign.

Fundraising letters can take the form of direct mail or email. We recommend promoting your Giving Tuesday campaign with both. Try hand-written letters to catch the attention of your supporters along with emails that link them directly to your giving page.

If you’re looking for templates to make sure your letters contain all of the necessary information, check out this resource.

Text-to-Give

Text-to-give campaigns are essentially a short-cut for your donors to give to your cause. They simply text a predetermined code to a phone number that your nonprofit has set up with a text-to-give provider, and donors can give right then and there.

This Giving Tuesday idea is a great way to encourage supporters on the go to donate to your campaign, especially towards the end of your 24-hour time frame.

For help setting up a text-to-give campaign for your organization, check out Qgiv’s text fundraising guide.

Product Fundraisers

Selling products during your Giving Tuesday campaign is a great way to boost revenue while engaging your supporters. Plus, it provides an additional incentive for supporters to contribute, as they will love getting a little something in return for their generosity!

This Giving Tuesday idea is most effective when you choose to sell items that are directly related to your mission or your campaign goal. For example, if you work with farmers in developing nations, selling farm-grown coffee beans would be an excellent product fundraiser to support your campaign.

To make your product fundraiser even more successful, partner with a dedicated product fundraising company like ABC Fundraising. They can help you set up a fundraising web store that can empower your supporters to easily order their cookie dough, popcorn, or branded merchandise online.

Host a Dinner Event

Dinner events are a great way to encourage your supporters to get dressed up for an evening of entertainment. Even if you can’t see your donors in person, invite them to a virtual dinner event.

This Giving Tuesday idea is a perfect way to get your mid-tier and major donors together for an evening of mingling and discussion about your organization. It’s a networking and relationship-building opportunity for your nonprofit and top supporters. Try hosting a gala, dinner party, or cooking event to engage your top supporters, and remember, all of these can be done virtually too!

Chances are, your board members will be valuable attendees at any Giving Tuesday dinner event. Learn more about how to engage them for this campaign and year-round with this guide.

Take Supporters on a Virtual Tour

You’ll likely have a few different engagement opportunities for your supporters during Giving Tuesday. One idea is to take your supporters on a virtual tour of your facility. Show them what it is that you see every day to help them feel closer to your organization.

For this Giving Tuesday idea, you may choose to take supporters on a tour of your office facilities or even show them the work you do with your constituents every day! For example, if you build houses for homeless individuals, you might take supporters on a walk-through of one of the houses you built using virtual streaming software, and perhaps introduce them to the family that lives there.

Taking your supporters on virtual tours and other engaging virtual events are a great way to maximize your Giving Tuesday campaign, especially in 2020 when in-person engagement opportunities are limited. For other examples about how you can make the most of your campaign in 2020, check out this effective guide.

Interview Constituents

Giving Tuesday takes place primarily online, and even more specifically, on social media. Therefore, during the day, your nonprofit should have plenty of content readily available to be posted on your social media accounts to entertain and engage your supporters. One way to do this is by interviewing your constituents.

For example, you may interview those that your organization has helped. Discuss what it was your team was able to accomplish and then post those interviews as a part of your campaign. Be sure to tell supporters that you wouldn’t be able to accomplish so much without their help. After all, their donations are what drives your success.

Host a 5K

If your nonprofit wants to center Giving Tuesday around a single event, host a 5K. This event idea is possible for both in-person and remote audiences. Invite your supporters to run, walk, or crawl across the finish line in support of your organization.

If you’re hosting this event as a remote Giving Tuesday idea, make sure to arm your supporters with a mileage tracking app or other device so that they can time their run. Collect registrations online and allow people to complete the run at any time on Giving Tuesday itself. Make sure to post updates announcing top runners throughout the day so people know the time to beat!

Raise Funds on Facebook

We’ve mentioned a few times throughout this article that Giving Tuesday is a primarily social media-driven holiday. Therefore, one Giving Tuesday idea to leverage this fact is to raise funds directly on Facebook. Facebook fundraisers are becoming increasingly popular on a day-to-day basis.

Start a Facebook fundraiser so that supporters never even need to leave the social media site to give to your organization. They’ll simply come across the content on your Facebook profile, then choose to give right then and there!

Introduce a Book

Books, whether you’re selling them for supporters to read on their own time or starting a book club, are a great way to educate your supporters further about your nonprofit’s mission. Try introducing a book about your organization’s mission before Giving Tuesday. Then, on the day of, pull quotes from it to post on social media.

Alternatively, try introducing the book on Giving Tuesday itself. If someone on your team (like your executive director or organization founder) has written your own piece about the mission and how your organization works, try offering a discount for those who purchase on Giving Tuesday.

Photo Contest

Invite your supporters to post pictures as a part of your Giving Tuesday campaign. This encourages them to engage with your organization online during the holiday. You may invite them to post images of themselves sporting branded merchandise or attending a past event. You can even create a unique filter for them to apply to their social media profile picture during the day.

To complete this Giving Tuesday idea, be sure you create a hashtag for your organization’s campaign. Then, you can peruse the images and repost them throughout the day! Make it interesting by offering a prize to the most unique image posted by a supporter.

Scavenger Hunt

One event idea to keep supporters engaged throughout the day is to create a scavenger hunt. This is similar to a photo contest in that you ask supporters to take pictures to post to social media throughout the day. The difference is that they should take pictures with specific objects to complete the scavenger hunt.

An example of this Giving Tuesday idea might look like this: 1) Post a picture wearing your latest branded t-shirt. 2) Post a screenshot of you chatting with an event volunteer online. 3) Complete a gift to the organization and post a picture of the confirmation page. 4) Other tasks related to your mission and goals.

Hand-Written Appreciation Notes

One of the most important aspects of your Giving Tuesday campaign actually occurs after it’s over. Showing appreciation for those who participated in your campaign is key for retaining those supporters and building relationships with them.

We recommend using personalized appreciation strategies to show your supporters that you care. Hand-written thank you notes are a prime example. Hand-written cards show a level of personalization and attention that is unequaled in other forms of communication.

With an excellent plan in place, your nonprofit will be ready to rock Giving Tuesday this year. Armed with these expert tips and creative Giving Tuesday ideas, you’re off to a great start. Good luck!