How to Create a Giving Tuesday Campaign in One Week

Your Ultimate Checklist for a Quick Campaign Setup

In 2023, donors gave $3.1 billion on Giving Tuesday. Since Giving Tuesday is already coming up on December 3, your nonprofit organization is likely busy putting in all last-minute efforts to make a successful campaign. You might be struggling to decide what theme to go with and how to make your campaign stand out from last year—or questioning participating altogether.    

After all, connecting with donors and bringing attention to your campaign are the most important elements of meeting your donation goals. This connection can be challenging to achieve if you use outdated technology or don’t have efficient ways of contacting your supporters. We’ll show you how to create a Giving Tuesday campaign in just one week with a step-by-step process.  

Step 1: Choose a Theme and a Goal

The first step to creating a campaign is choosing your theme and overall goal. This stage will help you outline and inform the rest of your planning and preparation. Whatever your marketing concept and initiative will be, it should include these elements:  

• The title of your campaign  
• A brief pitch and value proposition of what your campaign is about  
• A framework for your communications 

To help everyone in your nonprofit understand your Giving Tuesday theme and goal, answer these three questions:  

1. What are you trying to fund?  
2. How will it impact your mission?  
3. How does it impact the individuals you serve? 

By discussing the answers to these questions, you and your entire nonprofit team will be on the same page and have a clear, articulated goal to aim for. Depending on your other initiatives during the upcoming holidays, you might tie your Giving Tuesday campaign theme into your overall holiday efforts. For instance, if your general holiday fundraising goal is to bui

Step 2: Create a Custom Donation Page

If donors don’t know where to go to give a gift to your campaign, they could click away from your page and move onto another website that provides clear instructions for donations. This can result in lower donor retention. Many people are inclined to give on Giving Tuesday, but remember that donors are also busy in their own lives during the holiday season, so try to make the process as smooth and straightforward as possible.   

By creating a custom donation page with your nonprofit’s specific Giving Tuesday branding, you can encourage donors to complete the donation process. Include campaign-specific messaging, images, and other important elements to help donors find the donation page and offer their gift easily.    

Don’t forget to turn on the recurring giving option on your online form. Just over one in 10 NEW recurring gifts are first placed on Giving Tuesday. Encourage these donors who historically have high retention rates and dedication to your mission by offering and communicating a monthly giving option.  

You can even include custom Giving Tuesday logos, branded colors, specific dollar amounts, and a clear call to action. Having branded messaging on this page also helps reinforce your campaign’s goal and can uphold donors’ emotional momentum that brought them to your organization’s website in the first place.    

Leading up to Giving Tuesday, ensure all your promotional and shareable content is ready to go. Leading up to Giving Tuesday, ensure all your promotional and shareable content is ready to go. Whether you’re creating personalized text messages, e-mails, social media posts, graphics, blog posts, videos, or all of the above, make it all in advance so you can easily share them with your audience. This type of content helps create an interactive, creative donation experience. Here are some Giving Tuesday ideas you can prepare: 

• Giving Tuesday 2024 campaign graphics  
• Video messages from volunteers, staff, and board members about your Giving Tuesday goals  
• Images of your nonprofit working on your mission in person  
• Themed e-cards or e-mail content   
• New icons, cover photos, and updates for social media apps   
• Eye-catching graphics that show information and stats about the goal you’re trying to achieve  
• Blog posts highlighting volunteer testimonials and beneficiaries’ stories   
• Follow-up plan for Giving Tuesday donors, so they become lifetime sustainers of your mission 

You can even create a unique hashtag for your campaign for supporters to share or encourage them to share their own stories about the impact of your mission on their social media platforms. Donors can include why they’re supporting your campaign, their connection to those you serve, and even a photo of themselves to share their support in honor of Giving Tuesday.   

Step 4: Schedule Communications in Advance 

Once you and your team finalize which pieces of content and unique campaign materials you’ll use for Giving Tuesday, schedule them in advance. You can reach your audience at the right moment by setting up automatic e-mails and scheduling when your blog and social media posts will go live.   

Running a nonprofit organization takes a lot of work, and you and your staff have many tasks you need to complete as the holidays approach. Scheduling your content allows you to free up more time and focus on interacting with donors and answering questions instead of spending hours waiting to post content at the perfect time.   

Allow GiveSmart to help you set up part of your campaign in just a few clicks with the Giving Tuesday Text Series pre-built with templates and timing.  

Timing Is Everything 

When scheduling your promotional materials, remember that timing is everything. Sending out one general e-mail to your past supporters more than a week before Giving Tuesday may not be ideal because many people will likely forget the message when the day comes. Instead, posting regularly throughout the week on various platforms, reminding supporters of your message, and updating them can help you meet your goal. The more consistent your posts are across all platforms and channels, the more likely your supporters will see them.   

Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook allow you to schedule your posts ahead of time directly in the app. You can also create a Giving Tuesday timeline with your team to decide when each post, graphic, or video should be shared so you don’t have to worry about posting daily. Just make sure you have someone monitoring your posts and engaging with commenters and supporters!  

Step 5: Reach Out to Your Supporters

When trying to reach a goal for any campaign, regardless of the time of year or what type of fundraiser you’re planning, the most important element is communicating with supporters and past donors. Supporters who have donated in the past are likely to donate again, and reaching out to them gives you the perfect opportunity to thank them for their previous support while informing them of your new Giving Tuesday campaign.   

Reach out to old and new supporters, ask them to spread the word about your campaign, and help them build relationships within your organization. Prioritizing ongoing, consistent communications with your donors and new supporters can help you reach your goals. One of the most effective ways to do this is to capture your donor data and use it to adjust your methods of communication. With fundraising software, you can access all the solutions you need to keep donors engaged and attract new supporters.   

Don’t let this checklist apply only to your Giving Tuesday Campaigns; it can also be applied to your feature fundraising efforts, especially leading into End of Year Giving and 2025 Planning!  

Make Your Giving Tuesday Campaign a Breeze With GiveSmart

As a nonprofit organization, gaining support allows you to sustain your mission and keep implementing new initiatives in your community. This Giving Tuesday, you might see more supporters and donors giving more to your mission than you normally see during other times of the year.  

At GiveSmart, it’s our goal to help your nonprofit maintain the momentum for your mission every month. Our fundraising software can be customized to fit your needs so you can host unlimited fundraisers and successful campaigns, including Giving Tuesday.  

Watch our demo webinar, Utilizing GiveSmart Features for Giving Tuesday to unlock your most successful campaign, yet!

With GiveSmart, your nonprofit can easily manage digital campaigns, communicate with donors more effectively, and retain donors longer. Schedule a demo today with one of our fundraising experts to learn how we can help you raise more money.