For the holiday season, there’s one day that stands out for non-profits, charities, and passionate individuals looking to make a difference: Giving Tuesday. This global day of generosity, falling on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, has become a powerful catalyst for charitable giving and community engagement.

But in a world where countless worthy causes compete for attention, how can you ensure your Giving Tuesday campaign stands out and maximizes its impact? The key lies in creativity, strategic planning, and leveraging the right tools.

I’ve put together innovative ideas to help you make the most of Giving Tuesday. These aren’t random ideas. I’ve run many donation campaigns of my own so I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.

In this guide, I’m giving you ideas that are usable in the real world. I’ve also included tips, tricks, and tools you can use to make these campaigns a success.

So, are you ready to turn your Giving Tuesday into a resounding success? Let’s dive into these exciting ideas and start planning a campaign that will not only raise funds but also build lasting connections with your supporters.

First, let’s be clear about the purpose of Giving Tuesday so that your campaigns align better.

What is Giving Tuesday?

Giving Tuesday is a global day of generosity that takes place annually on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States. It was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Since its inception, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

It’s strategically positioned after the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, serving as a reminder to give back after days of shopping. In 2022, an estimated $3.1 billion was donated in the United States alone on Giving Tuesday.

While it started in the U.S., Giving Tuesday is now observed in over 75 countries worldwide.

This is a prime opportunity to engage donors, raise funds, and increase visibility for your cause. It’s a day when people are actively looking for ways to contribute, making it an ideal time for focused fundraising campaigns.

One thing to keep in mind is that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are centered around transactions, Giving Tuesday isn’t necessarily focused on monetary donations. People are encouraged to give their time, skills, voice, and material goods as well. So if you’re looking to build your volunteer list, get more newsletter subscribers, or boost your social media shares, this is the perfect time to launch marketing campaigns.

Remember, your fundraising plugin can be a central tool in implementing many of these ideas, from hosting peer-to-peer campaigns to displaying real-time fundraising progress. The key is to choose ideas that resonate with your mission and audience and to start planning and promoting well in advance of Giving Tuesday.

Next, you need the right tool to run these campaigns. Charitable can be customized to support these unique campaign ideas, from creating specialized donation forms to tracking various types of contributions.

It helps you bring creative Giving Tuesday concepts to life while ensuring smooth donation processing and detailed reporting.

That said, here are Giving Tuesday Ideas you can use for your non-profit right now.

Best Giving Tuesday Ideas

1. Virtual Wishlists

Create a campaign where donors can select different donation amounts that meet specific needs. These needs could be “Feed a family for a week” or “Provide school supplies for a child.” Or you could also list items that are needed.

So for instance, if you’re running an orphanage, you could list out diapers, books, toys, etc, along with the price of each item. You could even add links to Amazon or any other eCommerce site where they can see the price of the item.

This way donors feel like they have actually bought something for your non-profit that helps in a tangible way.

2. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaign

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) fundraising is a great way to raise money on Giving Tuesday. It’s when your supporters create their own fundraising pages to raise money for your cause. They share these pages with their friends and family.

Peer-to-Peer fundraising helps you reach new donors by tapping into your supporters’ networks, which can expand your donor base. This approach also gets your current supporters more involved, making them feel like active participants in your mission.

You can set this up using Charitable’s Ambassadors add-on. Once enabled, your supporters can create their own fundraising pages linked to your main campaign.

I recommend first setting up a main Giving Tuesday campaign in Charitable, then enabling supporters to create personalized fundraising pages within it. These pages can be easily shared on social media and via email, allowing your supporters to reach out to their networks and raise funds on your behalf.

When people see their friends and family fundraising for your cause, it builds credibility and shows that others care about your work. This social proof can be very powerful. Plus, P2P campaigns have the potential to raise more money than traditional fundraising methods because they leverage personal connections.

Finally, this type of fundraising creates a sense of community around your cause, making people feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. This can lead to stronger, long-lasting relationships with both new and existing supporters.

By using P2P fundraising for Giving Tuesday, you can get more people involved, raise more money, and spread the word about your nonprofit.

3. Donor Choice

A Donor Choice Campaign is a way to give donors more say in how their money is used. Instead of just giving to your general fund, donors can pick specific projects to support. This makes giving feel more personal and lets donors see exactly how they’re helping.

For Giving Tuesday, you could set up a special program with different projects to choose from. You might have small projects, like buying school supplies for kids, and bigger ones, like fixing up a playground. This way, people can find something they really care about, no matter how much they can give.

To do this, you’d need to explain each project clearly. Tell people what the project will do, how much it costs, and why it’s important. You could show this on your website with pictures and progress bars. As people donate, you can keep them updated on how their chosen project is going. This helps donors feel more connected to your work and can make them want to give again in the future.

Set this up using premade templates »

4. Matching Gift Challenge

For a Matching Gift Challenge, you need to get a sponsor or a big supporter or company to come on board. They agree to match donations and you can always limit their contribution up to a certain amount.

For example, they might say they’ll match all gifts up to $500. This means if you raise $500 from other donors, the matching donor will give another $500, doubling the total to $1,000. You can cap their contribution to a maximum of $10,000.

This is good for a few reasons. First, it makes donors feel like their gift goes further. If someone gives $50, they know it will turn into $100 for your cause. This makes people more likely to give or to give more than they usually would.

It also creates a sense of urgency. Donors know they have to give before the matching amount runs out if they want their gift to be doubled. This can help you raise money faster.

To run a Matching Gift Challenge:

1. Find a matching donor. This could be a board member, local business, or longtime supporter.
2. Decide on the match amount and any rules (like time limits).
3. Set up a campaign with a progress bar
4. Tell everyone about the challenge. Use email, social media, and your website.
5. Keep donors updated on progress towards the goal.
6. Thank both the matching donor and all the other donors who took part.

Remember to make it clear how the matching works and why reaching the goal is important for your cause. This can make your Giving Tuesday campaign more exciting and successful.

5. “Hour of Impact” Challenge

Encourage donors to give the equivalent of one hour’s wages. Create a calculator on your website using Charitable to help people determine their hourly rate and make the donation seamless.

It’s important to decide on a specific timeframe for your challenge. This could be the full Giving Tuesday or a shorter period like 12 hours.

If you want to list out preset hourly wage options, then Charitable can do that for you. You can even display a live tracker of how many “hours” have been donated and the total amount raised. Charitable lets you set up automatic thank you messages that recognize the donor’s specific contribution, like “Thank you for donating an hour of your time to make a difference!”

If you want to take it up a notch and make your campaign more interactive, you can create a simple calculator form on your site using a plugin like WPForms. This tool would help donors figure out their hourly wage. For example, it might ask for annual salary and work hours per week, then calculate the hourly rate.

WPForms also lets you add donation amounts. Plus, you can connect to popular payment gateways like Stripe and Square to receive your donations securely.

I suggest clearly showing what an hour’s wages can do for your cause. For example, “$25 provides a week of meals for a child in need.”

You can also encourage donors to share their participation with a special hashtag like #MyHourOfImpact. This can help spread the word and create a sense of community.

This approach makes giving more personal and relatable, as it connects a donor’s work to your cause. It also provides a clear, tangible way for people to contribute, which can be very motivating during Giving Tuesday.

6. Skills-Based Volunteering Portal

You create an online platform where people can offer their professional skills to help your nonprofit. This could be anything from graphic design to legal advice to IT support. For example, marketers could offer social media help, or lawyers could provide pro bono legal advice. Here’s my advice:

1. Instead of asking for money, it asks for skills and time.
2. List different areas where you need help, like marketing, finance, or web development.
3. Allow volunteers to sign up and describe their skills and availability.
4. Include a way for your staff to review offers and match them with your needs.
5. Set up a system to track volunteer hours, which can be valuable for grant applications.

This approach is good because it lets people contribute even if they can’t give money. You get expert help that might be too expensive to pay for. Plus, it can lead to long-term relationships with skilled professionals.

7. 24-Hour Livestream Event

Host a day-long livestream featuring staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, and supporters. Include activities like Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes tours, impact stories, and live fundraising updates.

You can use a plugin like Smash Balloon to connect your WordPress site to your live stream. Then website visitors can view and interact with your live stream directly on your website.

Learn how to connect your live stream to your WordPress site »

8. Gratitude Chain

This is a simple way to get more donation referrals. Start by asking one donor to make a gift and share why they’re grateful for your organization. Then, challenge them to nominate someone else to do the same. This creates a chain of gratitude and giving that can spread quickly.

To set this up:

1. Use Charitable to create a special donation form for the Gratitude Chain.
2. Add a field where donors can write why they’re grateful.
3. Include an option for donors to share on social media and tag or nominate others to make a donation or even share. the campaign

This approach works well because it combines giving with positive emotions and personal connections. It can help spread awareness of your cause as people share their gratitude publicly. The nomination aspect adds a fun, interactive element that can help your campaign go further.

You can also create a dedicated landing page to showcase the growing chain of gratitude messages.

The Gratitude Chain can help create a warm, community feeling around your Giving Tuesday campaign, showcasing the real people who care about your cause.

9. “Give It Up” Challenge

Challenge supporters to give up something for a week (like coffee or dining out) and donate the saved money.

You can use WPForms here too to create a calculator on your website to help people estimate their potential donation.

You could also create fun badges or titles based on what people give up. For example, someone who gives up coffee might become a “Caffeine-Free Champion for Change”.

Remember to keep the tone light and fun. The goal is to make giving feel good, not to make people feel guilty about their usual habits.

This challenge can help people see how small changes in their daily lives can make a big difference for your cause.

10. Cross-Charity Collaboration

You team up with other nonprofits in your area or field to create a joint campaign. Instead of competing for donations, you work together to raise more funds and awareness for all your causes.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Find partner charities that complement your work.
2. Agree on a shared goal or theme for Giving Tuesday.
3. Use Charitable to create a special donation form that lets donors split their gifts between the charities.
4. Plan joint events or activities to promote the collaboration.
5. Share resources and audiences to reach more people.

This is great because you can reach a bigger audience by combining your networks. It also shows donors that you’re focused on the cause, not just your organization.

That’s ten ideas you can use for Giving Tuesday. I’m going to give you a list of tools that will help you run a successful Giving Tuesday campaign. These tools can assist with various aspects of your fundraising efforts, from managing donations to engaging supporters and tracking your progress.

Free Tools You Can Use For Giving Tuesday

Here’s my go-to list of WordPress tools that charities can use for Giving Tuesday campaigns:

1. Charitable: Basic donation plugin for creating fundraising campaigns
2. WPForms: For creating simple donation forms or volunteer sign-ups
3. All in One SEO: To optimize campaign pages for search engines
4. Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed: Display social media feeds on your website
5. MonsterInsights: Track campaign performance with Google Analytics
6. SeedProd: Build and customize campaign landing pages
7. Sucuri: Protect your website during high-traffic campaigns
8. Duplicator: Back up your website and make sure all your content is safe at all times

Next, I’ll address frequently asked questions about Giving Tuesday campaigns. These are common inquiries we receive from our users, and you might have similar questions yourself. By answering these, I hope to provide clarity and help you run a more effective campaign.

Frequently Asked Questions on Giving Tuesday

When is Giving Tuesday 2024?

Tuesday, 3 Dec, 2024. Giving Tuesday is always on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

What is Giving Tuesday?
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that takes place annually on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States. It’s a movement that encourages people to donate to nonprofits and engage in charitable activities.

How can my organization participate in Giving Tuesday?
You can participate by creating a special campaign, hosting an event, or simply promoting your cause. Use the hashtag #GivingTuesday on social media and create engaging content to encourage donations.

How early should we start planning our Giving Tuesday campaign?
It’s best to start planning at least 2-3 months in advance. This gives you time to develop your strategy, create content, and build excitement.

What types of campaigns work best for Giving Tuesday?
Campaigns that tell compelling stories, set clear goals, and engage supporters tend to work well. This could include peer-to-peer fundraising, matching gift challenges, or social media campaigns.

How can we stand out among all the other organizations participating?
Focus on what makes your organization unique. Share impactful stories, use eye-catching visuals, and consider creative campaign ideas that align with your mission.

What are some effective ways to promote our Giving Tuesday campaign?
Use a mix of email marketing, social media, your website, and personal outreach. Consider partnering with influencers or local businesses to expand your reach.

How can we engage our existing donors for Giving Tuesday?
Reach out to them early, thank them for their past support, and invite them to be part of your Giving Tuesday efforts. Consider asking them to become peer-to-peer fundraisers.

How can we measure the success of our Giving Tuesday campaign?
Inside Charitable, you can track metrics like total funds raised, number of donors (new and returning), and more.

How can we thank and follow up with Giving Tuesday donors?
Charitable lets you set up automated personalized thank-you messages. These will be triggered as soon as a person makes a donation.

That’s it. Ready to launch your first Giving Tuesday campaign?

Get started with Charitable Now »

Melinda Bartley

I’m the senior writer at Charitable, with over 15 years of experience in content creation, digital marketing, and SEO. Beyond my professional role, I’m the co-founder and trustee of a non-profit organization committed to animal rescue and welfare. Throughout my career, I’ve helped build 17+ blogs – many from the ground up, transforming them into successful marketing platforms that drive traffic, boost brand visibility, and generate revenue.

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