The Complete Guide to Giving Tuesday

What is Giving Tuesday?

Giving Tuesday began in 2012 as a simple concept: a day that encouraged people to do good it is an annual global day of giving that encourages people to give back to those in need during the holidays both through online donations and in person.

When is Giving Tuesday?

Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving Day. While giving back to others is important throughout the entire year, Giving Tuesday encourages people to give even more during the holiday season. This day gives people the opportunity to support charities, causes, and organizations they care about most. You can choose to donate money, volunteer hours, or both.

The goal of Giving Tuesday is to encourage people to give back, especially during the holidays. In fact, there are lots of ways to celebrate Giving Tuesday. For example, many companies offer special promotions, such as free shipping, gift cards, and discounts. Some even run entire campaigns where employees donate their time or money to charity.

Why is Giving Tuesday Important?

Giving Tuesday is important because it highlights people in need during a time of celebration and cheer. During the holiday's many struggle. Giving Tuesday was a way to understand that and bring it to light that not everyone is as lucky as others and that while we are celebrating with friends and family, we should also keep in mind those who cannot.

How much has been made from Giving Tuesday?

Just last year alone $2.7 Billion dollars in the United States was raised in 24 hours! (GivingTuesday.org)

17.8 million people donated, 9.7 million people volunteered, and 10.2 million people gave goods last year in 2021. This shows that it is not just about donating funds but also donating your time and goods to others in need as well, you do not need to donate hundreds of dollars or spend money in order to participate and help others.

Who/What does Giving Tuesday Support?

Anyone, that is the beauty of it. There are no rules as to who or what charity you donate to. The sole purpose of Giving Tuesday, as we talked about is to support anything you believe in. Many non-profit organizations run Giving Tuesday campaign efforts to encourage more people to donate during this time but that does not mean that those are the only organizations you can support. Those who are not running any campaigns are also of course always open to support from donors as well.

How to get involved on Giving Tuesday

There are many ways to get involved in Giving Tuesday. You can either do something on your own, like donate to a cause online, volunteer at a shelter, or hand out meals or supplies to homeless populations. There are countless ways to do Giving Tuesday on your own. This allows you to support exactly what you want on Giving Tuesday and organize your own way of how you are going to give back, whether it's donating funds or volunteering your time.

If you would like to follow a bigger organization and get involved with a group that is also an option as well. There are so many events going on for Giving Tuesday that you can attend. To find events near you go to the Giving Tuesday participation tab to find out how to participate as an individual, company or brand, NGO, CSO and non-profit, small businesses, schools and universities, families, and the youth.

How Events.org can help you this upcoming Giving Tuesday

Events.org can help you as an individual participates by connecting you will non-profit organizations that are participating and need your help to raise as many funds as possible.

On the Events.org home page, we have every event that is open to the public displayed. There you can easily find more information on what different events on Giving Tuesday you can get involved in and easily donate online.

Events.org can also help you keep costs low to participate as a company/nonprofit/school/etc. by working seamlessly with DonationXchange and iBid.

Create a web page for your Giving Tuesday in-person or online fundraising campaign. Here you can add all the required information and photos about your organization needed for potential donors to understand your mission. Add a donate button that will be easy to access and visible for donors as well as an optimized donation form on your page for simple fast donations. Link this personalized webpage on your social media and main website so that when people want to make the next step and donate, they can easily and efficiently do so.

Hesitant on participating as an organization?

Giving Tuesday, since 2012 has been growing each year no matter what is going on in the world. It is refreshing to know that even when the whole world is facing hardship people are still willing to help others even if they are struggling themselves. Last year while Black Friday and Cyber Monday both saw declines in revenue Giving Tuesday still continued to grow.

Tips to keep in mind this Giving Tuesday as an organization/nonprofit

When setting up Giving Tuesday for your organization there are many things to keep in mind to set yourself apart from all the other hundreds of thousands of causes that will be asking millions of people the same thing on this day. Here is some campaign advice to help you create a successful campaign.

Create multiple ways people can express their generosity to support your cause other than just donating money. For example, donating goods or services to the cause. Not everyone that wants to support your cause has financial needs too, so doing this allows them to be involved and help in a different way.

Continue to communicate and engage with donors throughout the year not just on Giving Tuesday. Build a relationship with them. Talking to your donors throughout the year and giving them updates on what you are doing with funds, success stories, and other important things going on within your organization. Allow them to feel like they are truly a part of your organization, not just a one-time donor.

Optimize your socials. Make sure all your social media pages are being updated and create daily content for the weeks prior. Create pinned stories on what your organization does and the impact it can have when donors get involved. Create a page where new donors visiting can easily navigate and find out what you do, how you have helped over the years, and how they can get involved and be a part of your organization. This helps with peer-to-peer campaigns as well if you have many posts that people can easily share on their own social media platforms.

Attach a calendar invite along with your Giving Tuesday emails in advance. This is a simple way to ensure that they will remember because it is possible that your day of email reminders might get lost in their inbox along with the other organizations Giving Tuesday emails, this way you get a head start as well as an additional notification sent to your donors.

Many give with their hearts, not their heads. Keep this in mind when future campaign planning. Try and connect with donors on a different level rather than just asking for something. Share a story, and be more personal, this will help set you apart from others and allow you to reach your campaign goals.

People relate to a cause, not an organization. This means you can have a well know organization but if someone does not connect with your cause they will choose to donate to a different cause even if the organization is not as well known. So, do not get too comfortable and think that you can work less for the same amount of donations as an organization that is smaller than yours.

When asking on Giving Tuesday you want to relay the message calmly. Yes, adding a sense of urgency to an ask is typically helpful but keep in mind that everyone will be sending high-urgency asks on this day. Set yourself apart and relay your message in a calm, engaging, and hopeful manner. Create a non-crisis email or letter relaying your key message, this creates less stress for the donors and allows them to connect more with your cause and give not just because it is Giving Tuesday but because they truly believe in your organization.

Collaborating during this time is a great way to connect with more potential donors for future events throughout the year and be able to reach a new level of campaign success by joining forces with another organization. Create joint volunteer activities for your community to be a part of. If you are collaborating with an organization that is funding the same cause create an activity that will match both your missions, working together can allow for bigger goals. Collaborating with organizations with different missions allows you to help more people, if one organization helps feed the hungry and another helps with providing proper clothing create an event where people can donate both, and people can come and receive help in one place.

Now that you have all the information you need to participate as an organization looking to raise funds or an individual inspired to do good and help others on this Giving Tuesday, we hope that you accomplish all your goals and enjoy giving back!

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