Preparing for GivingTuesday: Tips for nonprofits

GivingTuesday might seem like a distant thought, but summer and early fall are prime times to prioritize strategic planning ahead of the busy giving season. To prepare, explore ways to streamline donation processing and optimize systems, which can help elevate your year-end giving success.

Why you should prepare for GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday, celebrated on the first Tuesday after US Thanksgiving and the day after Cyber Monday, requires more than just a last-minute push. By dedicating time to preparation, your nonprofit organization can:

• Avoid burnout: Spread out the workload, reducing stress closer to the giving day.
• Refine your message: Craft compelling stories and appeals without the pressure of an impending deadline.
• Optimize systems: Ensure your donation processing and backend operations are seamless.
• Engage donors early: Cultivate relationships and identify potential major donors.

Ways to prepare

1. Storytelling and campaign development

Summer is ideal for finding compelling narratives. Engage your program teams, beneficiaries and volunteers to gather stories of impact.

• Identify your "why": Clearly articulate the problem your organization solves and the difference it makes.
• Develop core messages: Create concise and impactful messages that resonate with your audiences.
• Plan your content calendar: Map out social media posts, email campaigns, blog articles and press releases. Schedule photo and video shoots now to capture evergreen content.

2. Database cleanup and segmentation

A clean and segmented donor database is essential to a successful fundraising campaign.

• Update contact information: Remove duplicates, correct errors and update addresses and email contacts.
• Segment your donors: Categorize donors based on giving history, engagement level, location and interests. This allows for personalized appeals.
• Identify lapsed donors: Plan a re-engagement strategy for those who haven't given recently.

3. Streamlining donation processing

Efficient donation processing is critical for converting donor intent into actual funds. A clunky process can lead to abandoned donations.

• Review your current systems: Evaluate your online donation forms, payment gateways and acknowledgement processes. Are they user-friendly? Mobile-responsive?
• Ensure multi-currency options: For organizations engaging both Canadian and American donors, ensure your platform can easily handle both USD and CAD, including accepting electronic transactions (ACH in the US, EFT in Canada).
• Security and fraud protection: Verify your systems have robust security features to protect donor data and prevent fraud.
• Automate where possible: Automate donation receipts, thank you emails and donor data entry to save valuable time and ensure you don’t miss touchpoints that can boost donor loyalty.

4. Team alignment and training

Gather your team (staff, board members, key volunteers) during to ensure everyone is on the same page.

• Review goals and strategy: Clearly communicate GivingTuesday objectives and the overall campaign strategy.
• Assign roles and responsibilities: Define who is responsible for what, from social media management to donor stewardship.
• Conduct training: If implementing new donation processing systems or communication tools, provide adequate training.

By focusing on compelling storytelling, careful data management and optimizing your donation processing—perhaps with the help of comprehensive solutions like those offered by Deluxe—you can transform your GivingTuesday efforts into a powerful springboard for year-end fundraising success. Start planning now and you'll be well-positioned to inspire generosity and make a profound impact.