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Turning One Day into a Year of Impact Post Giving Tuesday Insights

Turning One Day into a Year of Impact Post Giving Tuesday Insights

Chapter Leadership Brief 10.20.23

By Bre Alexander, Content Marketing Manager, iWave

In the philanthropic world, one day stands out as a nod to hope and giving, pulling on heartstrings and opening wallets – GivingTuesday.

Conceived in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. GivingTuesday caught on and has grown worldwide, inspiring hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

As the aroma of leftover turkey slowly fades, many nonprofit practitioners will find themselves navigating the dynamic landscape of the nonprofit sector during this holiday season.

Once your campaign ends, you're faced with a list of donors, a mix of new supporters and existing friends. The question looms, "Now what"?

Display Your Gratitude

Cultivating a sense of appreciation is just as important as cultivating donors and aids in boosting donor engagement and retention. To keep your donors happy and inspire continued or additional support, express your gratitude for them!

37% of donors are annoyed when organizations fail to acknowledge their contributions. Even if the other 63% don't express annoyance, the absence of appreciation can influence if they give again. Moreover, 65% of donors are willing to give more if they understand how their contributions helped!

So, how can you ensure your donors are happy and feel valued? The solution may be as straightforward as sending a personalized thank you letter outlining the positive impacts of their generosity.

Share Statistics
Many donors donate to specific organizations or missions because they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, they want to aid in bringing forth the change they wish to see in the world.

Help them feel part of the bigger picture and keep donors engaged by sharing post-GivingTuesday statistics. This is also an excellent opportunity to drum up FOMO (fear of missing out) for next year's efforts!

Some types of stats you could consider sharing:

  • Total amount raised: reinforcing the collective impact they've had on your mission
  • Social media engagement: such as the number of likes, shares, and comments.
  • Impact metrics: Number of people helped, animals rescued, meals provided.
  • New donors: How many new donors through GivingTuesday efforts
  • Campaign goal: Did you reach it? Are you just shy of hitting it? Share with your base.
  • Year-over-year growth: Compare last year's statistics to this year's statistics to display the increase in support.

Tip: share statistics in a visually appealing and easy-to-follow format. Potentials include charts, simple text or infographics. Share them across various channels such as social media, email and your website.

Retain Your New Donors

You've thanked your donors and shared important statistics with them, but what else can you do to ensure your new donors become life-long supporters?

Donor retention involves several factors. Here are some suggestions to help improve your donor retention rates:

Communicate clearly and directly with your donors - Evaluate your broader communications. Consider your usage of social media. Are you sharing content that provides donors with insights into your day-to-day? Can your donors gain a window into your organization by following you? Are you effectively displaying your actions and the reasoning behind them?

Acknowledge your donors - As previously mentioned, expressing gratitude and acknowledging your donors increases retention rates. What other strategies can you employ? Implementing a new donor welcome series of emails can give your new supporters a glimpse into your organization and provide them with a sense of being part of your community.

Stay on top of recurring donation plans - look for potential churn. For instance, it's common to have higher turn rates among monthly donors in January compared to other months. Keeping track of things like up-to-date contact information and payment information can help reduce churn. When you understand this data, you can take measures to reach out ahead.

Gather Data and Feedback - This concept can be used to dig into the donor experience with any organization. Taking the initiative to solicit feedback conveys your commitment to enhancing the donor experience and your readiness to heed their input.

Remember that the success of your nonprofit isn't just measured by how much money is raised but also by the lasting relationships built with donors and the positive impact achieved through their support.

Evaluate and Prepare for Next Year

Evaluating the performance of your GivingTuesday campaign is a critical step to ensuring the success and impact of your efforts. It allows you to learn from your successes and missteps, make data-driven decisions, and improve your strategies for future campaigns.

Before assessing what worked and didn't, revisit your pre-campaign goals and objectives.

If you shared statistics with your donors, you'll already have begun collecting relevant data and metrics from your GivingTuesday campaign. Collect data pertinent to your campaign, such as website traffic, social media engagement, donation amounts, email open rates, and more. Dive deep into your metrics to evaluate your performance. Did you meet or exceed your KPIs? How can you ensure you do in future?

Break your data into segments, such as demographics, content types and referral sources. This will help you identify which segments and strategies were most effective with your audience.

Once you clearly understand what worked and what didn't, use this data to refine strategies for your next campaign. Adjust your KPIs, objectives, and budget accordingly. Implement the lessons you've learned to maximize success!

GivingTuesday is not just about the day itself; it's about the lasting impact nonprofits create through their actions. After a successful campaign:

  • Be diligent in thanking your donors.
  • Share statistics.
  • Focus on retaining your new donors.

It doesn't stop there! To ensure greater success in future campaigns, evaluate and learn from past campaigns. GivingTuesday is not just a day; it's a movement that keeps on giving.

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