Giving Tuesday is an annual day of giving held on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Following traditional days of spending, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday is focused on giving back. As we say goodbye to a difficult year, let’s come together and give back to those in need on December 1^st.

1. Plan, plan plan. Instead of asking for donations on this seemingly random day, going dark for a few weeks, and then beginning your year-end campaign, use this existing giving day to kick-start year-end fundraising. Send a few emails in the days leading up to Giving Tuesday to prime your donors. On December 1^st, increase the frequency of your emails and social media posts. And don’t forget to thank your supporters after the day passes.
2. Testing 1-2-3. This may sound obvious, but I’ve stumbled across way too many giving sites that are not optimized for phones. So, plan in advance. Pick a few people on your team to visit your giving page on their various devices. Have them complete the donor experience from start to finish by making a donation of $5. This way, you can calmly make adjustments to your website ahead of time, if needed. You will be grateful, and your IT Team will really thank you.
3. Be visual and concise. Social media posts with images are proven to receive more engagement. So, stick to what works. With so many posts to filter through on Giving Tuesday, create graphics with concise messaging to help your organization cut through the noise. If your giving site has a long URL, consider shortening it using an app like bit.ly.
4. Get witty. With so many organizations competing for visibility on social media on this single day, come up with a clever and distinct hashtag. To get even more social media presence, encourage your followers to use your desired hashtag in posts about why they support your cause. This way, your most loyal donors are doing some of your marketing work for you.
5. Lead by example. Consider looking outwards and making a donation to a partner organization or cause. Visit our blog next week to see which causes the Impact team is supporting on #GivingTuesday!

By – Jamie Sargent