Why Should Your Nonprofit Participate in Giving Tuesday 2024?

What started in 2012 as a way to give back during the holiday season has extended into a global campaign to support nonprofits through Giving Tuesday.

Your nonprofit should participate in Giving Tuesday because it allows you to attract new donors and raise more money. People come together to make an impact in their communities during a unified day of giving.

Circle the date on your calendar and start planning now: Giving Tuesday 2024 is on December 3. As #GivingTuesday continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to take part and create a powerful fundraising campaign.

Is #GivingTuesday for you? Consider these key facts from GivingTuesday Data Commons, which works across various sectors to understand drivers of generosity better:

• $3.1 billion was donated in the U.S. on #GivingTuesday 2023
• More than $13 billion has been donated since 2012
• 34 million U.S. adults participated in 2023

If your nonprofit organization isn’t participating in #GivingTuesday, 2024 might be the year to get started. Here are five reasons why.

1. #GivingTuesday Is Community-Driven with Recognizable Branding

By now, most people probably recognize the heart logo that’s part of the GivingTuesday brand. Participation puts your nonprofit in a class of others that are celebrating the community of philanthropy together.

The original #GivingTuesday logo started many other country-specific logos with varying heart designs.

 

What’s great for you is that the organizers of GivingTuesday don’t place many restrictions on logo or branding usage. The only rule is generally that you do not modify, reproduce, or create your own derivative of their logo. Their terms of use page has more information. The varying logos from each country are official logo variations that have been approved by the organization.

Use the GivingTuesday logo in your campaign materials alongside your organization’s logo. You can also create your own Giving Tuesday design, but make sure it isn’t the same as the organization’s and uses none of their trademarks. Calling attention to your GivingTuesday campaign with the logo makes you more likely to get the attention of different kinds of donors.

2. Giving Changes Year-to-Year

According to GivingTuesday’s 2023 Lookback Report, there’s been a shift in generosity.

Overall giving in the United States increased modestly by 0.6%, but don’t overlook the opportunity to invite supporters to participate in your cause in a variety of ways. Nonprofits must engage people across all types of giving and non-giving behavior since not every person will only donate monetarily.

Donations broke down like this in 2023:

• 87% of Americans donated items
• 72% of Americans donated money
• 57% of Americans donated time
• 43% of Americans engaged in all of the activities above

Here’s the most important takeaway:

People are most likely to give to a cause they believe in. It matters more than an organization being registered as a nonprofit or where they have donated in the past.

What this means for your nonprofit is that your story is more important than ever, on #GivingTuesday and every day.

3. Expected Trends for Giving Tuesday 2024

Increased donations are expected again in 2024 as Giving Tuesday continues to gain worldwide momentum. Additionally, donors are starting to think about the event, now in its 12th year.

For nonprofits already creating a solid donor path for Giving Tuesday, the key factor is donor retention. Sustainable giving relies on engaging a wide and diverse set of donors. As it stands, new donor acquisition was up by 2.3% last year (the first increase since 2021). However, across the board, nonprofit retention has been declining.

In the United States, it is estimated that an additional 7% of people would be willing to give more if asked. This number indicates that donors are excited and engaged during the giving season, which makes Giving Tuesday a great time to solicit donations and potentially retain and recapture more donors.

One of the best ways to ensure your nonprofit has fewer lapsed donors is to give your donors the ability to opt into a recurring donation. Recurring donations empower your donors to support your cause regularly, creating a more loyal and engaged donor base.

There are many ways to encourage recurring donations, such as:

• Offer perks for recurring donors, like access to private content on your website or a special gift.
• Create an exclusive community for repeat donors where they can engage with your organization more closely.
• Send monthly or quarterly donation reports to donors with specifics about how their gifts are being put to good use.

It isn’t enough to simply ask for donors to give on a regular basis. Following up with updates, news, and how your donor’s gifts have helped your organization accomplish its goals is paramount for maintaining loyalty.

Inspiring giving requires organizations to tell a story and to do so in a way where potential donors can see themselves in another’s pain or challenge.

4. Giving Tuesday Engages a Broad, Global Audience

About 80% of global donors say they give due to a personal or emotional connection with a cause. GivingTuesday has theorized that the basis for the decline is fundraisers engaging donors on their relationship with the organization versus their relationship with the cause.

Nonprofit organizations must move away from transactional engagement and move towards cultivating relationships with their community of supporters.

But you need to start right now. Here’s how:

• Determine what story you plan to tell about your nonprofit.
• Decide how you will encourage supporters to give across a wide variety of participation options.
• Create a landing page and donation form to share stories that increase positive sentiment around your cause.
• Launch ahead of Giving Tuesday using hashtags and logos.
• Send #GivingTuesday emails – plan up to five emails – within two weeks of Giving Tuesday to highlight your efforts.
• Remember to thank all donors from your Giving Tuesday campaign and stay engaged with them throughout the year.

People have a natural desire to participate and give – tap into their generous spirits by approaching fundraising with an abundance mindset and creating multiple avenues for supporters to engage with your cause.

5. Kick Off End-of-Year Giving Season

Finally, #GivingTuesday is the start of the end-of-the-year giving season. Both businesses looking to make corporate donations and individuals who want one more tax break are considering donations in the final four to six weeks of the year. Giving Tuesday is the start of that end-of-the-year countdown.

As you think about fundraising campaigns and goals, integrate Giving Tuesday and end-of-the-year campaigns into a single fundraiser to finish the year strong.

To maximize impact, use the same messaging, graphics, and images beginning with Giving Tuesday through the end of the year. The only change is removing the GivingTuesday icon. This will help you create a sustainable end-of-year campaign without having to come up with two ideas to execute.

The best fundraisers are from the heart; keep that in mind as you share your nonprofit story heading into #GivingTuesday and the end-of-the-year donation season.

Use Our Giving Tuesday Workbook to Plan Your Full Campaign

The GiveWP Giving Tuesday workbook is a complete guide to planning and executing a strong Giving Tuesday campaign. Download yours now for free.