How nonprofits can leverage email marketing for Giving Tuesday
- Updated on: 2017-11-28
- Read original article here
While retailers are getting ready for Black Friday, nonprofits are prepping for Giving Tuesday. Started in 2012, Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that nonprofits can rally around to boost donations.
Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday that follows Thanksgiving. This year, it’s November 29.
The good news for nonprofits is that Americans seem to be in a particularly giving mood. Americans set a new record for charitable giving last year. Individuals, estates, foundations, and corporations donated an estimated $373.25 billion dollars. It’s the second year in a row for record-breaking giving, according to Giving USA.
Giving Tuesday brought in an estimated $117 million dollars last year, but research suggests that the holiday hasn’t become as popular as the shopping-induced days that surround it. For instance, 93% of consumers are aware of Black Friday, but just 18% are aware of Giving Tuesday, according to the John Templeton Foundation.
How can nonprofits boost awareness of this holiday while increasing donations? The answer: email marketing.
To help nonprofits create email campaigns for Giving Tuesday, we’ll suggest four emails that you can send to encourage donations and give you some pointers to make sure the donation-encouraging day is a success.
Your donors might not know that your organization is participating in Giving Tuesday, so send an email that announces your involvement. The goal of this email is to simply let subscribers know about the upcoming holiday, and get them ready to donate soon. Here’s a great example from MAZON:
Things to learn from this email:
The point of Giving Tuesday is to collect donations, but your donors are more likely to give if there’s a personal element to your campaign. Pick a client that your organization has helped, and share his or her story in an email. It puts a face to your cause, and makes giving more personal.
Here’s an example from Red Cross. The email tells the story of a woman that lost everything in a house fire. This particular email isn’t specific to Giving Tuesday, but it easily could be by adding a mention of the day to the text.
Things to learn from this email:
To collect donations on Giving Tuesday, consider sending a letter from the director of the organization that outlines the fundraising goal for the day. A letter is another way to personalize the campaign. The director can talk about the organization, the work it does, and explain how much money the nonprofit is looking to raise.
Take a look at the example below from the Academy of American Poets. Again, this particular email isn’t specific to Giving Tuesday, but could be with a few tweaks.
Things to learn from this email:
After Giving Tuesday, send an email thanking everyone who donated. In the email, be sure to tell donors how much money was raised, and again, show donors what their contributions will accomplish.
Here’s a thank you email that can be modified to fit Giving Tuesday from UNICEF NZ.
Things to learn from this email:
In addition to sending awesome emails, here are a few tips to make sure a steady stream of donations come in on Giving Tuesday.
Giving Tuesday is a social holiday. Its creators say the day is “fueled by social media” and designated the hashtag, #GivingTuesday, to the special day.
So, turn to social media to generate some buzz on Giving Tuesday. You can trim down the email content that you write and use those digestible bites of information as social posts.
Consider directing subscribers to a special landing page that’s specific to Giving Tuesday. The landing page will have a similar look and feel as the email that you created and provide a direct way to make a donation. (Here’s more on how to make emails and landing pages work together.)
Online giving is steadily increasing, up 9% from 2014 to 2015, according to Blackbaud. Check your online donation process and make sure it’s easy for donors to click a link in an email and make a donation in a few simple clicks.
You might have an urge to send every email that you create for Giving Tuesday to every donor. But that’s not the best use of your time. Instead, you should segment your list and create tailored content for each group.
Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened and marketers have found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns.
You could vary the donation amount that you ask for if you segment your emails by past contribution activity, for example. The “Large Donor” segment could receive an email that encourages more support than the “Occasional Giver” segment.
Giving Tuesday allows nonprofits to create campaigns that drive awareness and donations. Many organizations see a bump in donations at the end of the year, so this global day of giving comes at a fitting time for nonprofits to market their cause.
Nonprofits that use email marketing to spread the word about their organization on Giving Tuesday can generate much-needed revenue to perform in the new year.
This infographic has actionable tips and stats to help you make the most of Giving Tuesday:
For additional help with email marketing, check out The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Nonprofits.
