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Give Your Year-End Fundraising Campaigns a Boost This Giving Tuesday

LinkedIn for Nonprofits Team

LinkedIn for Nonprofits Team

This year’s Giving Tuesday falls on December 3. For many nonprofit organizations, especially in North America, it’s the single biggest fundraising day of the year. Last year, GivingTuesday Data Commons estimated that Giving Tuesday donations from the U.S. alone totaled $3.1 billion, with over 34 million U.S. citizens donating.

Planning major fundraising campaigns and events in the lead-up to Giving Tuesday is an excellent way to rally support from generous donors and hit your end-of-year goals. Important as it is, however, Giving Tuesday is not your last chance to win the attention and support your year-end fundraising campaigns will need to cross the finish line.

Don’t lose the momentum generated on Giving Tuesday! Instead, think of your Giving Tuesday initiatives as the first step in a larger and even more ambitious campaign. Now that it’s helped you capture so much new and returning attention, you can use convert that attention into renewed, sustained support. Try these three strategies to give your year-end fundraising campaigns a boost:

1. Celebrate your Giving Tuesday progress as you transition into your year-end campaign

Get your supporters excited about donating by celebrating the progress you’ve already made together. Keep track of how many donations you bring in during Giving Tuesday, then create a “recap” as you transition into the next stage of your year-end fundraising campaigns.

Try to be as transparent as you can about the donations you received and what it means for your nonprofit and the communities you serve. Outline how you will use the funds and why you’re so grateful for their help. You could even illustrate the impact of these donations by sharing pictures or videos of your mission in action, or by getting quotes from volunteers or staff on how these crucial resources will be put to good use.

After establishing the impact that donations have already had, you can transition your content to focus on what’s next. Create, share, and repost “tentpole” content related to what you’ve already done with donations this year, building energy for what’s ahead.

Getting specific about what your supporters’ donations have and will accomplish is key to minimizing donor fatigue. Give your audience a reason to stay engaged with your ongoing campaigns, donate more, or even share your content with their own networks. When they can feel the difference their donations are making, your supporters will want to keep making that difference alongside you.

Illustrations of two LinkedIn posts showing people volunteering

2. Share a specific year-end goal with your supporters

Another valuable way to capitalize on the momentum you’ve started building during Giving Tuesday is to review the goal you’ve set for your year-end fundraising campaigns and adjust it based on Giving Tuesday data.

If you had an unexpectedly strong response from supporters on Giving Tuesday, is it worth increasing your scope? On the flip side, if you’re concerned about hitting your year-end goal based on your December 3 performance, it may be worth revisiting your tactics and making a few strategic pivots.

Whenever setting or adjusting a campaign goal, take the SMART approach by making it:

  • Specific: Set a clear, unambiguous target that you want to hit. 

  • Measurable: Clearly identify the criteria you’ll use to measure your progress. For example, are you tracking daily donation numbers? What about donations per channel? Figuring out your measurement strategy in advance can also unlock new opportunities to engage your audience, such as allowing them to follow along in real time via a progress bar on your website.

  • Achievable: Strike the right balance between being ambitious and realistic to ensure your supporters feel like they have a real shot at helping you get there.

  • Relevant: Ensure your goal clearly ladders back to your nonprofit's mission and purpose, and consider tying it to a specific project that you can make the focus of your fundraising campaign.

  • Time-bound: Establish a deadline for completing this goal. For year-end fundraising campaigns, December 31 is a natural endpoint.

3. Share regular updates to boost engagement

Reaching your year-end fundraising campaign goal might be the finish line, but it isn’t the only milestone that matters. Instead, introduce as many small victories as possible between your campaign kick-off date and deadline.

Use your nonprofit’s day-to-day content on social media and other platforms to keep supporters in the loop about everything you’ve achieved so far. For example, you could create a weekly recap sharing your progress toward your goal, any events you’ve hosted as part of your campaign, and any exciting news or highlights. This can help break up your content, ensuring that supporters don’t feel bombarded by back-to-back calls-to-action, while still keeping them engaged with your campaign.

If your nonprofit receives corporate donations or leverages peer-to-peer fundraising, you could also weave in posts thanking the companies and individuals who have helped bring you closer to your goal. Be sure to tag them in appreciation posts (with their permission) to encourage them to engage. If they went above and beyond for your cause, you could even interview them as a way to celebrate their efforts.

You may find it effective to think of your year-end fundraising campaigns as an opportunity to strengthen community, as much as they are a means of reaching a goal. By using your campaigns and content to engage your supporters and spread your message, you can head into the new year with renewed enthusiasm and momentum to spare.