The annual global event Giving Tuesday is just around the corner on Dec. 2.
Thousands of nonprofits around the country and in your city and state are likely to participate. Does your news organization plan to join them?
If you’re still pondering this question, here is my advice: Never miss an opportunity to educate your audience about the value of your journalism and the impact of your work.
While you may think you are competing with local charities, a well-executed and thoughtful campaign can bring philanthropic support your way, and also help raise awareness of your work.
Here is our team’s advice from several years supporting the work of year-end giving campaigns for hundreds of news organizations through the Local News Fund and the Lab for Journalism Funding.
Set a goal
Giving Tuesday donors are likely to contribute smaller dollar amounts, so your average donation amount may be $25 or $50. If you’ve never done this before, consider setting a smaller goal, such as 25 donors, or $2,000. Sharing this goal with your audiences can also entice them to consider supporting you to help you meet your goal.
If you’re more experienced you can set larger goals, or a target for new donors, but feel free to start small for your first year.
Leveraging matching donations
According to industry research on donor habits, matching donations make potential donors 84% more likely to contribute. How do you get a match? If your company has a board of directors, consider asking board members. If you have local businesses that contribute to philanthropic causes, you can ask them.
Use campaign ambassadors
Another way to mobilize awareness is to find a few campaign ambassadors in your network. They might help with things such as sharing your donation page to their social followings or sending an email to their network. An ambassador could be a loyal reader, a member of your editorial advisory board, a Chamber of Commerce leader or simply a regular commenter.
Here’s an example of a toolkit the Record-Journal in Meriden, Connecticut, put together for a fundraising campaign:
Develop a messaging plan across all channels
While social media are still important, especially on a day like Giving Tuesday, you are more likely to succeed with a specific email campaign, or including callouts in your daily or weekly emails.
Why? Because email readers are some of news organizations’ most engaged — they chose to give you their email addresses. Include calls-to-action in your regular email, or consider developing a campaign that shares the personal stories of your editors and reporters.
Here’s an inspiring example from The Daily Herald in Washington State, showcasing the work of its local health reporter:
Describe how you will use the funds
Don’t just assume your audiences know the value of your work or why you need the funds. Explain to them. This will help them get excited about the goal and the campaign.
The more you share with audiences about the costs of paying reporters, or maintaining websites, the more they will understand your work and trust it.
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We talked with LMA’s Director of Fundraising Initiatives, Kristyn Cooper, about strategies for making the most of Giving Tuesday — tactics that will help newsrooms all year long. Click here to check out that conversation.