Every(Re)Action | GivingTuesday 2021: What We Saw and What to Do Next
The nonprofit world knows GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a major fundraising day—and this year, organizations on the EveryAction platform had a record-breaking 24 hours.
Established in 2012 at the 92nd Street Y as a dedicated day to encourage everyone to do good, GivingTuesday is now “an independent nonprofit and a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.” By now, donors are familiar with GivingTuesday, and, when asked to participate, they show up for the causes they care about.
A few of the top-line results we saw this year include:
- EveryAction’s nonprofit partners raised more than $15 million—that’s a 41 percent increase in revenue over GivingTuesday 2020!
- Donors made the highest number of gifts in the evening hours.
- The average gift was $102—just slightly down from the average GivingTuesday gift in 2020—but the number of gifts made went up by 47 percent.
- Organizations on our platform sent more than 149 million emails on GivingTuesday alone—breaking our one-day email-send record!
What are some next steps nonprofits can take to respond to these outcomes throughout the rest of the year-end fundraising season? Read on to find out.
More than $15 million raised…
EveryAction’s nonprofit partners raised over $15 million on GivingTuesday alone. For comparison, that’s over 5.6 times more than the amount raised on the previous day, November 29th and a 41 percent increase in revenue from GivingTuesday 2020!
2020 was a unique fundraising year, and it’s encouraging to see that now, in 2021, donors are continuing to answer the call to give on GivingTuesday: they recognize that this is a special occasion to demonstrate generosity for their favorite causes, and they’re feeling motivated to chip in.
Next step: donors who feel strongly bonded to your mission and organization are likelier to make a gift. Personalizing your messages to donors, and targeting them along different parameters, can help you build stronger relationships with them—and that helps you raise more for your mission.
… and most gifts came in during the evening.
Although nonprofit staffers were hard at work all day long, most GivingTuesday gifts rolled in during and after dinner time, between 7:00pm and 10:00pm. The most lucrative hour was 7:00-8:00pm, when organizations on our platform raised over $1.3 million alone; however, nonprofits actually saw the highest number of individual gifts come in between 9:00pm and 10:00pm.
Nonprofit fundraisers always want to know when their audiences are most engaged. Keeping a close eye on when donors make the highest number gifts or donate the most funds can be a great metric to keep in mind when scheduling and sending social media posts, email, SMS, and other messages through the right mix of channels.
Next step: GivingTuesday is a highly visible and very busy limited-time fundraising event, so getting all the right messages out in time is extra important for your bottom line. Tactics like workflow automation can help your team send accurate and timely asks to the right donors at the right time—for the rest of year and year-round, too. Download our Guide to Automation to learn more!
Average gift sizes stayed consistent…
This year, the average gift EveryAction’s nonprofit partners saw on GivingTuesday was $102. This is just slightly down from the average GivingTuesday gift in 2020, which was $107. However, organizations on our platform saw a 47 percent increase in the number of gifts they processed on GivingTuesday 2021 over last year’s event. Donors seem to be maintaining or even increasing their levels of commitment and enthusiasm for GivingTuesday, and this could mean nonprofits have room to build off of their GivingTuesday successes for the remainder of the year.
Next step: if your nonprofit wants to ensure you’re making the most out of the giving season, predictive analytics capabilities like Optimized Ask can help you ensure you’re suggesting appropriate and appealing gift amounts to each one of your supporters—all without needing to do more manual work. Download our case studies to see how early adopters like Habitat for Humanity of Omaha and SOME have used Optimized Ask to raise more for their missions.
… but nonprofits sent more than 149 million emails(!)
As the M+R 2021 Benchmarks remarked back in spring of 2021, “the 2020 data shows that reports of email’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Again.” Organizations on the EveryAction platform sent 58 million emails on GivingTuesday 2020, and they sent over 149 million emails on GivingTuesday 2021—that’s a 156 percent increase from the previous year, and it’s one that broke our single-day email-send record. Clearly, our nonprofit partners made the most out of email as an appeal channel for this year’s GivingTuesday, and we can’t wait to see how they build on that success for the rest of year-end.
Next step: although Apple’s email privacy update means some organizations have had to re-evaluate how much weight to give email open rates, other metrics and strategies are still very useful for measuring the success of your program. Nonprofits can make the most of their year-end email appeals by taking these action steps and enabling functionalities like one-click donations to reduce friction in the giving process and help you succeed.
