Recording; Passcode: 1EWAUY!?
Slide Deck

  • #GivingTuesday is November 28 – just 11 weeks away!
    • Established in 2012, #GivingTuesday is celebrated each year on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as a day dedicated to giving back.
    • The week between Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday is one of the most charitable weeks of the year.
    • Giving Tuesday is a great opportunity to bolster support for your 2023 Local News Fund, leveraging the attention the #GivingTuesday slogans will be getting on social media. 
    • Giving Tuesday campaigns in 2022 totaled $3.1 billion representing a 15% increase compared to GivingTuesday 2021.
  • What is a Matching Gift? 
    • A pledged donation that’s contributed to your campaign when you hit a specific milestone.
    • Matching funds are an incentive tool that can inspire donors to participate in your campaign and make a greater impact.
    • According to TechSoup, “Mentioning matching gifts in fundraising appeals results in a 71% increase in the response rate and a 51% increase in the average donation amount.”
    • Organizations with matching funds raise on average 4.5x more than organizations without one
  • Potential match sponsors include board members, existing donors, local businesses, corporations, community members
  • Different types of campaign matches:
    • Increase the total amount given, total number of donors, average donation size
    • Challenge gift: these gifts are about “unlocking” a larger donation, meaning the organization can raise more money if they reach a goal.
  • Match Ideas:
    • “A generous supporter has agreed to match every donation made on GivingTuesday, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000.”
    • “Jane Smith will give $2 for every $1 donated today up to $25,000. Your gift goes three times as far!”
    • “For every like this post receives, our board will donation $1, up to $1,000. Like and share today and help make a difference!”
    • “If we receive 100 gifts from first-time donors by the end of the day, XYZ Company will give an additional $50,000!”
  • Tips for securing Matching Gifts:
    • Get an early start. If you wait until the last minute to start talking to your board, donors, and business partners about a matching grant, you will be less likely to get one.  Start setting up meetings, making phone calls and sending emails as soon as your begin planning for #GivingTuesday.
    • There can be multiple match funders within a match campaign. The match funder may be anonymous or named; in fact, in some cases, it is the name of the match funder that is promoted to inspire others to give.
    • Prepare materials. Preparing a flyer, brochure or even just a simple graphic with all the information your prospect needs to know about matching grants makes your nonprofit look professional and organized.
      • Be sure to include the date (November 29), a link to your fundraising page, and a brief explanation of how matching grants work
      • Matching Gift Email templates
    • Consider tying the match to a specific use for the money. Matching grants work really well on projects where you are raising money toward something that is tangible and visible. Donors tend to respond to matches if they can see that their donation is actually carrying more value.
    • Market it. Matching grants motivate donors. People love a good deal.  For that reason, being able to double their donation to a cause they care about can be the deciding factor for some people in whether they will donate.
    • Say thank you! If a person or business provides a matching grant on #GivingTuesday, make sure you go the extra mile to thank them! In addition to the usual (a phone call, handwritten thank you card) you can consider extra love. 
  • Talking Points for Securing Matching Grant
    • Provide context
      • Explain what #Giving Tuesday is all about
      • Tell them about your campaign and goal
      • Show your Givebutter page
    • Matching grants motivate donors. People love a good deal. For that reason, being able to double their donation to a cause they care about can be the deciding factor for some people in whether they will donate.
    • Providing a matching grant doubles their donation too! Their gift can have an even bigger impact when used as a matching grant.
    • Matching grants create interest and drive traffic. It’s all about promotion and getting supporters to click the link to your donation page.
  • Resources
  • Giving Tuesday Campaign Planning
    • Set aside a few hours a week to plan out your campaign
    • Campaign Goal – It’s a best practice to create a campaign goal specifically for Giving Tuesday, which can serve as the framework for your campaign. 
    • It also gives your donors a concrete vision to support.
    • Potential options – dollar amount goal, # of donors goal, matching gift
  • Fundraising Basics 
    • Make a list – jot down 10-20 people you’d like to reach out to and connect with and include their preferred method of communication.
    • Set aside time – plan ahead and designate a time to reach out when you will be able to answer questions, have conversations, and thank those who choose to give.
    • Start the conversation early – You already have the details about Giving Tuesday, so go ahead and reach out and start talking about it. The more you are talking about it, the more people will know that you are seriously committed.
    • Tell your story! Why is this important to you and your work? What stands out to you? What difference will someone’s gift make? What impact will it have in your community?
    • Be donor-centric- Don’t forget to let your contacts know that their gift is important! Your language should center around the donor, for example, “Because of your support…” Your gifts allows us to …”
  • Communication Strategy 
    • What channels and platforms will you use? Make sure you make your communications approach a multi-channel one (email, social media video, live stream, texting)
    • What are the key messages you want to convey about your project?
    • Think about your current audiences and who you want to target. what messages will resonate with them?
    • It is important to develop an outreach strategy and communications calendar ahead of time. 
    • Be sure to use GivingTuesday graphics and the hashtag #GivingTuesday.
  • Highlight matching gifts in your day-of communications. When Giving Tuesday arrives, be sure to include matching gift information in all of your donor communications.
  • Whether you’re posting on social media, sending donation appeals, or making personal phone calls to top supporters, you’ll want to incorporate matching gifts throughout it all.
  • Communicate the Impact of your campaign
    • Create short, shareable impact stories that fit your overall theme.
  • Using AI to save time
    • Writing Giving Descriptions and Impact Stories with AI
    • Resources
  • Resources — Giving Tuesday Folder includes: 

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