Giving Tuesday Is Over: Now What?

For over a decade, Giving Tuesday has been a worldwide movement of generosity for organizations everywhere. You’ve spent time planning your campaign and raising funds and (hopefully) reached your fundraising goals for the day. Now that Giving Tuesday is over, what do you do?

Fortunately, fundraising doesn’t end here. Giving Tuesday is actually the start of the giving season. There’s much more to do after it, from nurturing your Giving Tuesday donors to preparing for the end of the year. Let’s get into the details so you can make the rest of the year a success.

Turn Giving Tuesday Donors into Recurring Donors

You probably got donors during Giving Tuesday who have never donated to your organization before. While these gifts are great for your goals, don’t forget that these donors can be turned into long-term supporters. All you need to do is a few simple steps: giving thanks, staying in touch, and using recurring donations.

Give Thanks

Every donor wants to feel appreciated, and the easiest way to do so is by saying thank you. This sign of gratitude goes a long way. There are many ways to say thanks, including:

• Sending thank you letters
• Setting up a donor wall
• Calling donors
• Emailing an acknowledgment and thank you note

Your message doesn’t have to be formal, stuffy, or long. The most important thing to remember is that it should be authentic. Be friendly and use personalization when possible. Remember: Send a thank you message as soon as possible! If you haven’t already sent them out, do so soon.

Stay in Touch

Once you’ve expressed appreciation to Giving Tuesday donors, keep the conversion going. After Giving Tuesday is a great time to let donors know about the impact of their contributions and other important information. You can stay in touch by:

• Encouraging email newsletter signups
• Sharing social media channels
• Put together a report and send it out (you can make one specifically for Giving Tuesday)
• Inviting donors to events and other initiatives

Staying in touch allows you to build relationships with donors, turning them into lifelong supporters. Plus, they may feel inclined to give more on the next Giving Tuesday.

Add Recurring Donations

A mix of one-time and recurring donations is important for nonprofit organizations. Why not make one-time Giving Tuesday donors into recurring donors?

Recurring donations are regular, ongoing financial contributions made by donors, usually through an online donation form. These donations can happen daily, monthly, quarterly, or annually, with various amounts usually set by donors themselves. Recurring donations have many benefits, including:

• Manageable and predictable cash flow
• Sustainable income
• Saves time on finding and soliciting new donors

The best way to acquire more recurring donors is to ask. And if you have a WordPress website, it’s easy to manage recurring donations with GiveWP. All you need is the Recurring Donations add-on!

Prepare for the End of the Year

Giving Tuesday allows you to officially kick off year-end campaigns and the rest of the giving season in addition to nurturing your new donors.

Although Giving Tuesday usually falls in November, December can account for around 26% of a nonprofit’s total revenue for the year. Now is the perfect time to make those asks! You should also prepare your reports and receipts.

Connect With Major Donors

Now is an excellent time to connect with all of your major donors. If they haven’t given already, sending a message or picking up the phone can remind them of your organization and needs. Making the ask in the midst of this giving season would encourage them to give, too.

The most important step here is to reach out with a personalized message. If they donated during Giving Tuesday, acknowledge their participation and thank them or remind them of the impact of their last major donation. Remember to be authentic and focus on nurturing the relationship.

Build an Impact Report

A primary reason for giving is the ability to create an impact, but donors won’t understand their impact if you don’t tell them about it.

One of the best ways to illustrate impact is by showing donors an impact report. It builds a sense of trust, transparency, and appreciation. Some aspects of a good impact report include:

• An Introduction: This section will feature a summary of your organization and mission statement.
• Stories: These should be engaging, educational, and creative, showing exactly how donations were used and your organization’s accomplishments.
• Appreciation: This section can act as a thank you and feature your donors and supporters (or major donors). Use language that brings a sense of unity, like “together,” “we,” and “our.”
• Financial Information: Here is where you can dive into the details about revenue and expenses so donors understand how funds were used.
• Explanation of Gift Impact: Show how donations made a difference with details on what each dollar amount can do. For example, you can say, “A donation of $10 will feed one animal for one week.”
• Visuals: Use visuals such as graphs, charts, images, videos, and infographics to make the report more engaging and informative.
• An Ask for Support: Use this section to inform donors about your future plans and goals and remind them of ways they can continuously support you.

Provide Receipts

Most donors give to your cause because they believe in what you’re doing, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want their tax break! This time of the year is when you should start preparing annual donation receipts. They can be finalized after the year ends.

These receipts summarize all of the donations an individual donor or business contributed to your organization over a tax year. While it could be done manually, the best way is to use your donation platform.

GiveWP offers an Annual Receipts add-on that’s easy to use and provides donors with accessible information any time they need it. Check out how to get started with this guide.

What If My Giving Tuesday Campaign Didn’t Meet Expectations?

You put a lot of time and effort into planning and executing a great Giving Tuesday Campaign. You check your results, and things fell short. What went wrong, and what can you do?

Fortunately, you can bounce back. Use this shortcoming to your advantage and as a jumping off point for your end-of-year campaign and final solicitations. Be transparent with donors, explaining that your Giving Tuesday campaign didn’t reach its full potential, and ask for additional support.

You should also take a look at your Giving Tuesday campaign overall. Did you try something new? What could have been done differently? For example, if you focused on email and social media asks, try various strategies like paid ads and direct solicitation. Break down how the campaign went to identify opportunities for next year’s campaign and beyond.

Make It a Great Giving Season

Giving Tuesday is just the start of the giving season, so there is plenty to do, from staying in touch with your donors to preparing for the end of the year.

Your donation platform, like GiveWP, can help. Easily turn your new donors into recurring donors with the Recurring Donations add-on, or kickstart your impact reporting with Fundraising Reports. There are lots of features to explore and use to turn your WordPress website into a fundraising powerhouse. Try it for yourself!