Network for Good recently released a lot of great data that implies strongly that organizations that aren’t participating in Giving Tuesday are missing out on potential donations. A few striking metrics include:
- An increase of 146% in fundraising from 2013 to 2014
- 58% growth in participation among nonprofits
- Nonprofits who participated in Giving Tuesday out-raised their peers by end of year by a factor of 5-10 depending on the point of comparison you use
The data is remarkable, but it is limited to the Network for Good platform. Huffington Post previously reported 2014 Giving Tuesday fundraising was 45.7 million, a 63% increase from 2013. What this quick look at the data doesn’t show is whether or not participation in Giving Tuesday increases an individual organization’s total end of year giving or if it simply shifts the fundraising to a specific day. But even if it does, here are three reasons I think organizations should participate in Giving Tuesday anyway:
- You are competing for donors. According to NTC, 71% of donors give to three or fewer organizations each year; 23% only give to only one organization. You want to be that organization. Since Giving Tuesday comes early in the end of year cycle, not participating could mean some donors are no longer looking at making a contribution to your organization for the remainder of the year.
- Giving Tuesday is End of Year giving. I’ll posit that the reason organizations using Network for Good raised more money when they participated in Giving Tuesday is simply because they participated in a complete end of year giving program. If your organization has a Giving Tuesday plan in time for December 1st, odds are the rest of the calendar is already planned and ready to be executed.
- Free pass on Email Volume. A message that never gets sent raises $0, so fundraisers should be looking for every opportunity to send a solicitation. Like the last day of the year, donors are expecting lots of fundraising appeals on Giving Tuesday and they won’t hold it against you in terms of total email volume. So go for it.
I get it, the year is filled with many fundraising campaigns and you’re busy. It can be easy to dismiss Giving Tuesday as a distraction from your important end of year plans. But you are risking missing out by not incorporating this day into your communication plan. If you are inspired to take some action on Giving Tuesday, check out these tips and our available packages.