With Giving Tuesday approaching quickly, understanding key metrics or statistics from last year can help you set a goal for 2023. The day of global giving is November 28th, providing an excellent fundraising opportunity for many nonprofit organizations. More than 35 million folks participated in Giving Tuesday last year in the United States – a 6% increase over the previous year. It’s one of the trends we expect to continue to climb as social media and word-of-mouth create more awareness for the feel-good day of giving.
Here, we’ll cover some Giving Tuesday statistics you need to prepare for this major campaign.
Giving Tuesday is a significant day for nonprofits because it is a well-known global “holiday” dedicated to charitable giving. It is on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and kicks off the giving season.
Giving Tuesday is important to nonprofits for various reasons, but the key benefit of participation is the amplified giving that can come with a movement such as this. It’s a concentrated effort that can generate a lot of publicity and create a sense of urgency to donate.
Additionally, Giving Tuesday can:
- Help increase donor engagement
- Create social media visibility through #GivingTuesday
- Help you reach new donors
- Facilitate collaboration and corporate partnerships
- Create a reason for a recurring donation campaign
- Provide an opportunity to support a specific program or cause
- Generate donor information and data
Key Statistics from the 2022 Giving Tuesday Report
Each year, the GivingTuesday Data Commons releases a report on the impact of giving during the event. Here are a few things that you need to know from the 2022 Giving Tuesday Report:
- In 2022, donors in the United States gave $3.1 billion on Giving Tuesday, 15% more than in 2021
- More than 20 million people gave, with 6% more donors in 2022 than in 2021
- 82% of nonprofits that participated in Giving Tuesday tried something new
- #GivingTuesday trends annually on social media
- More than $1 billion of U.S. Giving Tuesday donations were contributed online
If your organization is based in the U.S. or receives the majority of donations from donors in the U.S., there is one alarming statistic you need to know: in 2022, both donors (money) and dollars were down. We haven’t seen this since 2010. If this trend continues, the best thing your organization can do is diversify your donor base through cross-generational appeal.
Summary of 2022 Giving Tuesday Statistics
What can you expect from a Giving Tuesday campaign? While the results can be different for every nonprofit and every different type of fundraiser, one thing is clear: These campaigns can have a significant impact.
The GivingTuesday Lookback Report notes that 83.6% of people worldwide donated in some way in 2022. It is important to note that not all contributions are monetary. Other giving types include donations of time, things or supplies, and advocacy.
Donations are tracked as going to one of three groups: formal charities, informal groups, or individuals.
The report noted a few key things about giving from 2022 Giving Tuesday:
- There was an overall increase in giving across the board
- Younger generations are donating at a higher pace and in more ways than older generations
- There were fewer large donor contributions
- More than 85 countries participated
- 35 million adults in the U.S. participated, with 36% giving money, 20% donating goods, and 18% volunteering
- 52% say they are drawn to the idea of a big group doing good together
- 84% of people aware of Giving Tuesday were inspired to give more
- 82% of 18-34-year-olds who know about Giving Tuesday do participate
How Nonprofits Can Leverage 2022 Giving Tuesday Statistics to Optimize Giving Tuesday
Paying attention to Giving Tuesday statistics and trends in fundraising can help you plan better, more effective campaigns. When looking at numbers for Giving Tuesday – whether from your past campaigns or national or global statistics – think about how you can use the information to help optimize campaigns.
This starts with analyzing data from your past campaigns. If you have participated in Giving Tuesday, see what tactics worked best. You can use past donor data to help segment audiences and messaging to help connect with people who are most likely to participate.
You can further look at what channels or activities resulted in the greatest conversions and how donors contributed – online (desktop versus mobile), by check, which forms converted highest, or through volunteerism.
Compare conversion rates from Giving Tuesday to other campaigns. How do they compare? What’s working best? Make sure to drill down all your organizational key performance indicators at the end of Giving Tuesday to ensure you are hitting targets and meeting goals with this flash campaign.
Using data-driven insights and statistics, you can refine Giving Tuesday strategies, target efforts more effectively, and ultimately generate greater impact and awareness. A proactive and iterative approach rooted in data can help you find success.
2022 Giving Tuesday: How We Gave
You can break down the ways we give even further to better understand recent trends in giving. This information can help you think about how to structure Giving Tuesday campaigns and how to make the right ask to yield results.
Most donors combine money, time, and items worldwide, with 43% giving all three. When you break it down further, 65% of donors give money, 54% give time, and 72% donate items.
It’s also important to consider the recipients that get these donations. Remember: people often give to registered nonprofit organizations, charities, unregistered organizations, or individuals.
In the U.S., there’s a preference for registered organizations, with 68% of gifts reaching these groups. Unregistered and individual contributions lag at 54%, and 42% of all donors give to all three types of recipients.
2022 Giving Tuesday Statistics: U.S. Specific
The ability for someone to donate online is particularly important for donors in the United States, with more than 63% of Americans preferring to give online.
Other U.S. giving methods include (from most used to least) giving directly to someone in need, during in-person fundraisers, in a store at checkout, indirectly through a platform online, by phone or text message, through an employer payroll deduction, or in another way.
These donations can also be ranked by generation, with millennials gaining a significant share of overall donations (nearly 50%), right behind baby boomers. Gen-X follows right behind, and there’s a larger drop-off for Gen-Z.
The top four causes that givers contribute to in the U.S. include poverty relief, religious causes, animal welfare, and health services.
The most challenging statistic from the report noted that overall donations in the U.S. in 2022 dropped more than 3% compared to the previous year; this means planning is key to ensure that your organization is top of mind when potential donors are thinking about end-of-year contributions.
Giving Tuesday Strategies for 2023
While overall donations may have dipped, Giving Tuesday contributions continue to rise. That presents challenges and opportunities for anyone considering a fundraiser this year but emphasizes creating something that will resonate with potential donors.
Earlier in this article, we mentioned that dollars and donors were down in the United States last year. As similar patterns emerge globally, it’s important to note that existing data points to resiliency within organizations with a broader and more diverse base.
Now is the time to begin experimenting with your organization’s engagement tactics to ensure you are set up for success as we come into Giving Tuesday and the end of the year.
While there are multiple ways to strategize for Giving Tuesday in 2023, we urge you to focus on high-impact strategies that will have an outsized impact on your organization. Some of these strategies include ensuring your website is optimized and user-friendly and that you are working to diversify your donor base.
Website Optimization
Your website matters and is key to the success of every campaign, especially Giving Tuesday. Ensure your site is engaging, updated, and easy to navigate. Additionally, your organization should ensure that your site is optimized for mobile.
Key statistics related to website giving:
- 57% of nonprofit website traffic came from mobile devices – however, 75% of revenue came from desktop devices.
- The number of online donations completed via mobile devices increased by 50% last year.
- The average gift by mobile users is $79. Tablet users give an average of $96, while desktop users give an average of $118.
Your organization needs to meet your donors where they are, and however they give. To capture as many donations as possible, your website must provide a great user experience regardless of device.
Mobile Fundraising Strategies
Mobile fundraising encompasses several different tactics. These include mobile optimization for your site (as discussed above), mobile payment options, and email marketing.
First, let’s talk about mobile payment options. Every organization, regardless of type, can benefit from mobile giving. It’s convenient, user-friendly, and safe. Regarding payment options, donors all have their preferences for giving.
More ways to give = more opportunities to receive donations.
By allowing donors to choose how they want to give by enabling multiple payment gateways like Google Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo, PayPal, and more. These gateways provide a quick, smooth, secure donation process and suit many donors.
Next, email marketing. While it’s a bit of a stretch, email marketing can fall under mobile fundraising for one big reason: almost 1.7 BILLION email users check their email on their phones. This number is far greater than those who check their email via desktop, reaching just 0.9 billion.
Additionally, the open rate for nonprofit email exceeds that of for-profit organizations. What does that imply? That, by the nature of your business, your audience is already more engaged and willing to listen.
Your fundraising appeals, impact reports, newsletters, and success stories mean nothing if folks aren’t opening your emails. According to NeonONE, there are several things you can do to create effective emails, including:
- Including imagery: Choosing good imagery can help readers connect with your organization’s mission.
- Paying attention to the greeting: Include a personalized greeting using your donor’s name. One NextAfter experiment found that a personalized greeting increased click-through rates by 26%. (By the way, if you haven’t read about the power of a name, you should.)
- Using the word “you”: Jumping off the “name” tip above, it’s important to remember that overusing someone’s name can create an unnatural feel. Make sure you sprinkle the word “you” throughout the message and other “you” language, such as “your organization.”
- Ensure readers can scan an email and get the gist of it quickly: Emails should be easy to scan, making it more likely that your message will gain their attention and encourage them to read it.
- Including great Calls to Action: Be clear with what you want your supporters to do – too many calls to action can confuse your readers. Keep it to a minimum – one is best.
Another important thing to consider with your email marketing is your unsubscribe rate. While it’s completely normal for folks to opt out of your emails and other communication, there are some things that you can do to lower your unsubscribe rate. Your organization can reduce the number of emails you send, segment your list, and make your emails more interesting, engaging, and educational.
Donor Diversification
What is “donor diversification?” This means expanding your organization’s reach to demographics outside your core. This includes targeting different ethnic groups, giving abilities, generations, etc. Diversifying your donor base creates a larger network of supporters and can positively impact your organization’s fundraising, reputation, donor relationships, and communication.
Here are some ways you can help diversify your donor base.
Be Intentional
Be honest about why you’re making these changes and what types of donors you hope to acquire. Diversifying your donor base requires clear targets and tactics.
Research and Understand Different Demographics and Cultures
Knowing who you’re working with is critical before you begin the work necessary to connect with a new kind of donor. Performing research to learn more about cultures, language, passion, and spirituality to help gain an understanding of the groups you are targeting.
Build Solid Relationships
It’s easy for us to get comfortable – reaching out to the same donors year after year. If you’ve built a good relationship with those donors, you probably know their contributions are reliable. However, relying on the same donors year after year allows your fundraising to stagnate instead of grow.
When diversifying your donor base, it’s just as important in the process of new donor acquisition. One way to do that is by keeping internal notes on donors in your CRM. For instance, you can make notes on each donor profile within ActiveCampaign – which does double duty as your email marketing platform and your CRM.
When they reach out, attend events, volunteer, or engage with your organization in a big way, make a note of it. You can use this information in the future to target them with specific information or to personalize messages.
Engage Different Audiences in Different Ways
If you had to guess, what would you think is one of the most cited reasons for donor churn? If you said that the donors think the relationship feels transactional or they don’t feel appreciated, you’re right on the money.
No one wants to feel like an ATM. You can’t expect to build strong relationships with your donors if you only engage with your audience to solicit contributions. Your organization must engage with different folks in different ways – keep them updated on campaigns and events and try to engage them in new ways.
Some things you can do include sending out feedback surveys after events, being active on social media, diversifying the types of events you hold, and thanking donors regardless of their gift amount.
Create a Diverse Staff, Board, and Volunteer Group
This one is fairly simple – your organization cannot grow a diverse donor base without a group of diverse folks leading the way. Creating a diverse Board of Directors, staff, and volunteer group ensures that your nonprofit employs folks who uniquely understand different backgrounds, cultures, languages, and experiences.
Meet Your Donors Where They Are
Attracting new donors requires new strategies. Want younger donors? Get on TikTok and enable Venmo. Older donors? Employ a direct mail strategy.
There are countless ways that your organization, with a little research, can create touchpoints for the different donors you hope to reach.
Be Flexible
Most importantly, flexibility is key. Not every strategy is going to pan out like you hoped. Not every group is going to feel connected to your cause. The needs of your donors will ebb and flow. External factors, like the economy, can also impact how folks give.
Be flexible, and remember – it’s okay to pivot.
Create a Stellar Giving Tuesday Plan
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