This year, Giving Tuesday is November 29, 2022. Are you and your organization ready? If your answer is “OMG no, it’s almost November already!” No worries, you’ve come to the right place!
While it’s clear Giving Tuesday is an important opportunity for fundraising, organizations still need to plan a strong and strategic communications effort that shares their needs and connects with their audiences. Whether the goal is fundraising, friendraising, or general market awareness, the Giving Tuesday moment is opportune for each.
Here, we share seven easy ideas for your organization to consider implementing in your social media, newsletters, or website before Giving Tuesday arrives.
Emphasize Tangible Goals
Use the moment to quickly share your plans for 2023 on the communications channels you control. Itemize the top 3-5 things you will accomplish in the year ahead and ask for support. Your blog, social media, and email newsletters are your best path to reach potential donors and their networks. A peek into the future will help donors visualize where their money is going.
Leverage Your Visual Library
Now is the time to break out your best photos, videos, audio, and other media, and share them across your platforms. Use this moment to help your audience of donors, partners, or clients develop a more visceral connection with your cause. Help them to see it, feel it, and hear it.
Strong Storytelling
Tell a story of impact that puts a human face on your organization’s work. Ground this story in the experience of one person and how their life has been positively affected by the work your organization does. Share this story in as many ways as possible – website, email, social, word of mouth, and through media. Sharing more than one story is a plus!
Reboot and Reset
Each of us has an organizational weak spot when it comes to communications. Perhaps it’s a languishing social media channel that you started, but that never fully realized its potential. Or a service that you provide that no longer garners the interest it used to. At the beginning of November, try to develop and commit to a 14-day strategy to reboot those areas with compelling content.
Ask Questions
Giving Tuesday isn’t just about raising money. It’s about building a connection and engaging with your key audiences. Use the moment to ask questions that prompt a response. “What are you thankful for in your community? Who in your life are you thankful for?”
The goal is to engage your audience in a conversation and deepen their ties with your efforts.
Bonus points if you mobilize this conversation around a hashtag or common venue. Successful giving is both socially motivated and influenced, therefore people who engage in conversation are more likely to follow through with action.
Tap Into Your Network
Don’t go at it alone. There’s still plenty of time to tap into partners, peers, coalitions, vendors, and allies to engage in mutually beneficial communications efforts. Use the moment to build momentum around a shared call to action. By maximizing these relationships, you can reach farther and build a broader sense of community. Use the moment to identify opportunities to author a joint op-ed, co-sponsor a community event, or cross-promote each other’s organizations in your respective newsletters and/or social media platforms.
Be Specific
Tell your donors and your allies just what you need to succeed. Are you striving for a specific financial goal? Specify the amount you’re aiming for, how much you have to go until you reach it, and what the money will be used for. Are you looking for a greater number of volunteers? Detail what tasks a volunteer will execute or how long a typical volunteer shift is. Letting people know what you need helps them understand why you’re asking for their support and just what they can do to contribute in a meaningful way.
Find a Strategic Partner to Support Your Communications Efforts
If you’re looking for a communications partner, look no further than FCP! We’re a full-service strategic communications firm providing coalition communications, communications planning, media relations, and more for nonprofits, foundations, and other social-focused organizations. Contact our team of PR experts to get started crafting your custom nonprofit communications strategy today!