We’re coming up on the most wonderful time of the year for those in fund development (that’s you!). Just around the corner is Giving Tuesday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and end-of-year giving appeals. Your Reliant donors are going to receive a deluge of fundraising appeals from big guys like the Red Cross, The American Cancer Society, and Compassion International. So, make sure they also hear how they can support their “boots on the ground” missionaries like you.
What you'll find below:
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving is considered “Giving Tuesday.” It follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday as a way to give back and celebrate giving. It's not just a hashtag-Twitter-Millennial trend, In 2017 over $217 MILLION was raised in the US alone. That's a $100,000,000 INCREASE over the previous year! #GivingTuesday can make a significant impact in your ministry support. Blackbaud mentions, "With proper attention and planning, #GivingTuesday can be a focal element in kicking off the giving season." And it's not just about donations. You can also encourage your Reliant partners to participate in #GivingTuesday through advocacy (telling others about your ministry), acts of kindness, donations and volunteerism. There are so many creative ways to get your ministry partners involved in the fun. Let's explore a few...
If you're raising your initial support, #GivingTuesday may be a fun way to remind people to jump on your Reliant team. But, it's not a long-term relationship-building strategy. So, if you're in Initial MTD, feel free to post a few hashtags, but this is not something to give hours of your time to.
For those of you in Sustaining MTD, #GivingTuesday can help to bolster your special-time gift needs or set you up well for an end-of-the-year ask later in the holiday season.
#GivingTuesday can be a great chance to try something different or out of the ordinary in your MTD. Think about ways to engage your Reliant ministry partners in a new and meaningful way. Check out the Case Studies & Example Campaigns section below for a few ideas.
At a minimum, let your #GivingTuesday activity act as a springboard into the holiday giving season.
The un-Selfie is one of my favorite ways to encourage current partners to get in on the fun of #GivingTuesday. In the Un-Selfie, donors post a pic of themselves holding a sign stating why they like supporting your ministry. The benefits of this type of campaign are endless:
Mail or email a “this is why I give” sign. You can see an example below. Your #UnSelfie sign can be posted/ Tweeted like the example below. But, your Reliant supporter can also incorporate it into Thanksgiving festivities with family or hang it on the fridge as a reminder why they partner.
Earn bonus points by snail-mailing this sign in a Thanksgiving card to supporters. Be sure to hand-write a personal note!
Encourage ministry partners to use the #UnSelfie hashtag to talk about how they are involved in your ministry and why.
The #GivingTuesday website gives a ton of examples of how organizations have built a giving campaign around this one day. Everything from the mayor dressing up like a superhero to challenging people to donate what they would have spent on coffee that day is listed. Read through a few campaigns to get your wheels turning on your own ideas:
Always the very most effective retention tool is to actually talk to your supporters regularly and pray with them. Seriously. It’s not fancy, but people feel loved and cared for by you through this simple act. That’s important. “Donors love thank-you cards, handwritten notes, and phone calls. In the increasingly digital world of fundraising, these “human” touches can put you far ahead of the pack.” - Blackbaud