Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday resulted in record donations on the EdCo platform. Many teams collected more donations in one day than in a typical month! Thankfully, this is just the beginning. Donor generosity remains strong throughout the rest of the year, and it’s the right time to do year-end campaigning. Keep posting updates on your campaign page, on social media, and sending emails to potential donors. Examine your social media posts to see what performed the best. Experiment with similar content for future posts. Identify who your biggest donors were and find commonalities between them. This helps you find more people just like them. Useful trends wait to be found.
Here are five things to keep in mind as the new year approaches
1. Post an introductory video that explains who your team is, what your passion is, and how a donation will move you closer to reaching a specific goal. The video doesn’t have to be polished or professionally created. A simple, straightforward explanation and genuine enthusiasm for why your team is fundraising will convince people to donate.
2. A consistent process for thanking donors and following up with news about the club as the year progresses.
3. Consider what donors feel when they donate. Motivation leading to that action, and how your communications (campaign page text, emails you send, social media posts) encourage that. You’ll learn this as you go!
4. Set a future date for another campaign. What is coming down the pike? A tournament? A holiday like National STEM/STEAM Day? Plan a campaign around events like that.
5. Think of fun, offbeat ways to encourage donors. Perhaps a $20.19 donation to start off the new year. Or $40 for your team advisor’s big birthday that’s coming up! Or ask for “blizzard bucks” during the next snow day.
Start the new year off right
Aside from strategy, celebration is due. Your team knocked the roof off of the sky. They channeled their effort into #GivingTuesday and converted donor confidence into uniforms, gas, and entrance fees to tournaments. Congratulations! Be sure your team members are aware of the amount raised and feel motivated to keep fundraising. They deserve a pizza party, too!
Everything you accomplished in 2018 can be repeated in 2019 with less effort. EdCo is all about efficiency. Your team member and donor lists will be archived and available to you. And, as experienced fundraisers, your content will probably become more sophisticated. Your messaging will be more personal and donor targeting more successful. Like all cyclical things, the end of #GivingTuesday is also a beginning.
What are your goals for 2019? What does your team want to do, specific or broadly? Please share in the comments below.