4 ways to build community for GivingTuesday success

GivingTuesday is the biggest Giving Day in the world, and it provides the prime opportunity to kick off your year-end fundraising push. But, most other nonprofits will be running GivingTuesday campaigns as well, so it’s important that your campaign stands out. 

To set your campaign apart from the rest, your nonprofit needs a strong, connected community to get the word out about your cause, effective marketing materials, and fun campaign activities.

Here are the 5 most important strategies you can use for a successful GivingTuesday this year, and how to use those results to fuel a record-breaking Year-End.

Align your GivingTuesday campaign with a region or network

Organizations can choose to run individual GivingTuesday campaigns or participate in a collaborative Giving Day event. Some examples include statewide Giving Days like #ILGive in Illinois, and region-based Giving Days like #GiveBigPittsburgh in Pittsburgh.

By keeping a Giving Day focused within a specific region, you can appeal to a group of supporters with personal ties and connections to the participating nonprofits. This means your supporters will be more likely to rally behind specific causes and become more involved with the success of your day. Using Bonterra Donor Engagement's Giving Days solution (previously known as GiveGab), you can create a branded website that will be recognizable to your donors and nonprofits and represents the local community that you all love.

For national organizations with affiliates or chapters in different states, coordinating your efforts for a nonprofit network Giving Day can be just as powerful. This type of Giving Day was designed to support organizations that operate on a national scale with affiliates or chapters providing services in local communities. Typically, these affiliate organizations are widely spread and vary in needs, size, and capacity, but still work towards a common goal or mission. 

For instance, Family Promise is a national organization serving people experiencing homelessness and low-income families with over 200 affiliates nationwide. They use GiveGab as their unifying platform to allow them all to take part in online fundraising initiatives securely and effectively. In 2020, Family Promise launched four large campaigns for their affiliates, including Family Promise Week and a Coronavirus Emergency Response campaign. Through their giving site, affiliate organizations are able to share their stories, post matching opportunities, engage in peer-to-peer fundraising, and more.

Recruit peer-to-peer fundraiser participants to spread your campaign

Peer-to-peer fundraising is an effective way to raise awareness for your organization and grow your donor community. In this fundraiser format, nonprofit supporters can sign up to fundraise on behalf of an organization by creating their “mini-campaign” that goes towards your fundraising goals. This format works because you can access your supporters’ networks of family and friends. Plus, if a new donor sees that their friend or family member is involved and advocating for your organization, they’ll be much more likely to give.

Through Bonterra’s Giving Days solution, your nonprofit can simplify its peer-to-peer fundraising campaign for both you and your participants. It provides each fundraiser will have their own toolkit and profile and their mini-campaign donations will come straight to your nonprofit. By empowering your volunteer fundraisers with the tools to set their own goals, tell their own stories, and get their family and friends involved in a cause they care about, you’ll be giving them a fun and easy way to support your organization and broaden the reach of your message at the same time.

Promote friendly competition

Playing a game is a great way to make fundraising enjoyable and form a community. For organizations using Bonterra’s Giving Days solution, their peer-to-peer fundraisers can come together to form fundraising teams. These teams then compete to raise the most money for the campaign. This is an effective — and fun — way to get people more motivated to collect donations and spread the word about the campaign.

Consider trying the “challenge” format for your competition. This is when a nonprofit sponsor offers a gift that can be unlocked by meeting a fundraising goal. Once it has been set, funds will be released to your overall total once it has been met. This creates a sense of teamwork amongst donors to “unlock” those extra funds for your organization.

Try a matching challenge

According to Double the Donation, 84% of people say they’re more likely to donate if their gift will be matched. So, consider partnering with businesses, board members, and even major donors to launch a matching challenge. These benefactors can pledge to match donations up to a specified amount based on donations received during your campaign. This encourages your donors to give more because they are able to see that their gift can make a much larger impact on the organization. 

The impact of Giving Days

Nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes can leverage the urgency and community spirit of Giving Days to build their supporter lists, convert that support into donations, and ultimately raise more for their missions. Talk to us to learn more about how Bonterra can help you power your Giving Day.