#GivingTuesday is a philanthropic phenomenon, easily accessed by all social impact organizations to generate support, volunteers, and donations. In 2019, $21.9M was raised in Canada over a 24-hour period, illustrating the power of a concise, easy to access social media-driven campaign. But in our experience many organizations, through a lack of action, are letting donors walk out the door on December 2nd.
Say thank you!
A personal thank-you to each and every donor who supported your campaign is mandatory! The more personal and detailed you can be, the stronger your relationship with your donor will be. Highlight where the gift will be going and how much your organization values the contribution.
Stewardship can also be a low-risk opportunity for creativity – test an SMS thank-you message or try a low-cost personalized postcard for a highly personal communication.
Report on Impact
This is the step so often missed by fundraising professionals, but it can be the most effective in creating long-term engagement. Report back to your #GivingTuesday donors within a month of the gift to let them know exactly the impact their gift made. What program did the gift get attributed to? Who benefited? What was your organization able to purchase or invest in? If you can answer these questions for your donors, you are on your way to converting a one-time donor into a long-term investor in your organization.
Not everyone is a direct mail donor
In order to maximize your opportunity to convert a one-time donor to a monthly donor, you must act quickly! The easiest mistake to make when converting your digital donors is to treat them like a direct mail donor. Unlike your direct mail donors, your digital donors will not remember who you are or that they gave to you three months after they made a gift. Test a channel like SMS for converting your digital donors, it connects with them where they are (on their phones) and can be rolled our quickly and at a low cost.
Fundraising Direct has been working with organizations to develop a channel-specific #GivingTuesday conversion strategies to ensure those donors who support you one day of the year can go on to supporting your organization for the long-term. We have applied data insights in order to develop the ideal timing and messaging to maximize conversion of your online and text donors.
Don’t lose a lifetime donor due to lack of engagement, get in touch with Fundraising Direct today to ensure your #GivingTuesday donors become your long-term supporters.