“Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!” 1 Chronicles 16:8
Thanksgiving season reminds us of God’s unrelenting grace and mercy in our lives. His incredible gift is why we so passionately tell the world about His goodness. This #GivingTuesday is an opportunity for you to do just that – share God’s goodness with your church and community and help them worship through generosity.
#GivingTuesday has become an essential part of every nonprofit’s funding strategy. #GivingTuesday 2021 in the United States alone totaled $2.7 billion, representing a 9% increase compared to 2020 and a 37% increase since 2019. With unprecedented levels of giving in 2021, these totals represent a significant continued trend of increased generosity.
If you’re running short on preparation time, here are a few quick ideas on how to successfully tell the story of God’s goodness and how people can participate generously to fund the ministries your church supports.
1. Select one ministry or community organization for #GivingTuesday donations.
Make #GivingTuesday about how the church gives back to the ministries or communities it supports. Choose one ministry or community organization to support and promote giving to this cause. Remember to tell the compelling story of why you want to fund this cause and encourage givers to join these efforts through donations.
Don’t give your givers too many options for what to support on #GivingTuesday; just select one area of need and let people know how they can provide.
2. Make Giving Easy
The decision to donate is typically emotional, and that will be even more true during this type of ask. Keep this in mind as you optimize your form! You want the giving process to be as easy as possible so as not to sever the emotional attachment your giver developed before they decided to give. Here are some best practices to keep in mind as you prepare for donations:
- Offer a text-to-give option
- Send push notifications through your church app
- Put the #GivingTuesday cause on your church homepage
- Make sure the form is mobile friendly
- Offer suggested amounts to give (hint: providing a range of different suggested donation amounts can often result in higher donations than you’d receive if you don’t have them at all)
3. Develop a quick communication plan
In the inevitable flurry of #GivingTuesday, it will be easy to get flustered and make a mishmash of your communications. Don’t let that happen! Build out a quick comm plan. Who will be handling social media accounts? Who will be fielding inquiries from curious givers? Who will be making the main announcement from the pulpit? Are you able to get a special email sent to the congregation?
4. Don’t limit it to just one day
The neat part about #GivingTuesday is that the whole ask can extend beyond the 24-hour period that actually makes up the event. At its heart, #GivingTuesday is a push for people to balance the shopping inherent to the holidays with more charitable spending. It’s a wonderful opportunity for a day-long generosity initiative to be offered through the first week of December.
5. Don’t forget to measure your results & report
Was #GivingTuesday a success? Be sure you measure your results to gauge your efforts — it’ll help you run more effective generosity initiatives and pinpoint what strategies work and what don’t. Here are some questions for you to consider:
- How many new givers participated?
- How many of those new givers gave again in the following months?
- What is your retention rate for new givers after 6 months? What about a year later?
- Which of your social channels saw the most engagement? What can you do to boost engagement on other channels?
Don’t forget to tell people about the success of #GivingTuesday. Let your givers know the impact their generosity made on the ministry or community organization the church promoted.
Need help managing your #GivingTuesday analytics? Schedule a demo of MortarStone generosity software – you’ll have the easy-to-use giving reports that will help you track and manage your giving efforts.
Remember, #GivingTuesday is about sharing His story and how we, as Christ’s followers, can participate generously in helping to fund the Kingdom. We at MortarStone are praying for your church and the entire giving season!