A nonprofit giving day is intended to help different organizations and higher education institutions bring awareness to their efforts and help them raise as many donations as they can within a short, defined period of time. Let’s explore the importance of giving day, how you can launch one for your organization, and how you can leverage wealth insights to boost your fundraising.
What is a Giving Day?
So, what is a nonprofit giving day? A Giving Day is a 24-hour, online fundraising event. The purpose of holding one is twofold. The first reason to hold a Giving Day is to collect as many gifts as possible within a limited time period. Additionally, nonprofit Giving Days are held to increase awareness for your charity, foundation, or university. They are a great way to draw attention to your organization and incorporate your organization into the greater community.
Giving Days are initiated primarily by community foundations, cause-based nonprofits, and higher education institutions. They typically center on a specific geographic area, such as a city, state, or region. But, they can also be national or even international in scope. Technically, anyone, anywhere, can donate to your cause.
Examples of community foundations hosting a nonprofit Giving Day for charities in their regions are GiveMN and Arizona Gives Day. Another well-known global Day is Giving Tuesday. Created in 2012, Giving Tuesday is held every year on the Tuesday following Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It was designed to kick-off charitable “giving” during a season when people are already in a giving mood. What better way to encourage donations from those who are eager to contribute?
Explore the impact of Giving Days
Holding a nonprofit Giving Day has increased in popularity. There are now hundreds of Giving Days happening across the United States and several on a global level. In fact, Giving Days are becoming a standard part of fundraising.
As their popularity increases, the question is: are Giving Days worth all of the work involved? Consider some of the proceeds from these 2019 Giving Days:
- Horizons Giving Day 2019 raised over $1.6 million for its 41 affiliates.
- The Big Give, a Giving Day supporting nonprofits throughout South Central Texas, brought in over $4.7 million for 545 participating nonprofits.
- Contributions reached over $11 million for A Giving Day for Amplify Austin, which supports Austin, Texas nonprofits.
With proper planning, promotion, and organized effort, nonprofits definitely have an opportunity to see rewards from the Giving Days they hold. Setting a limited time for these special donations creates a sense of urgency to raise funds. Of course those who are most interested in your cause will be more likely to give their support. And this is also a chance to gain new supporters because of the nonprofit’s increased visibility.
Why you should plan a nonprofit Giving Day
A concentrated fundraising effort within such a limited period can go a long way toward getting people excited about your work. In the short-term, Giving Day helps connect supporters to the causes they care about. Long-term, you can continue to engage with donors in various ways to maintain and grow their contributions.
Here’s how your organization can benefit from a Giving Day:
1. Raise funds for your organization.
A primary reason for a Giving Day is to bring in the dollars necessary to continue your work.
2. Increase visibility and community awareness of your group.
The exposure gained through a Giving Day can boost your nonprofit’s standing in the community.
3. Re-engage with past volunteers and donors.
Chances are, those who contributed in the past will support you again.
4. Add new donors to your list.
This is the time to pick up those who have an interest in what you’re doing but have not yet contributed.
5. Enhance your donor data.
Giving Day will allow you to collect more information on the donors who are involved with your organization to aid future prospecting.
6. Strengthen the sense of community pride.
People like to be part of events that help others and creates a positive vibe.
7. Benefit from the work of others.
If your Giving Day is part of a multigroup effort, you can share the workload and make new connections.
8. Learn more about fundraising.
Your staff will learn new skills as part of creating a Giving Day fundraising event.
Participating in a Giving Day not only benefits the organization, but its supporters and surrounding communities as well. Many people like to give back when they are able to. And they like knowing that their contributions made a difference.
How to get started
Giving Days take plenty of planning, enthusiasm, and follow up with both donors and prospects. A Giving Day is designed to run on the target day for 24 hours. But smaller nonprofits sometimes extend fundraising to a week or longer to allow supporters more time to contribute.
Additionally, a nonprofit can partner with community and civic foundations for a joint Giving Day event, That can be an effective way for the organizations to assist member nonprofits with the work involved. As it’s been said, many hands make light work.
Also, nonprofit Giving Days provide an excellent opportunity for a nonprofit to hone its marketing skills. It’s only by trying out different strategies will you know which ones produce the best results. And you’ll have new tactics you can use in other fundraising campaigns.
While raising funds in just 24 hours takes work, it is a worthwhile endeavor for a nonprofit. Raising funds is important, but so is gaining visibility and building your donor base for the future. That’s how you’ll be able to bring in even more contributions.
WealthEngine can help you find Giving Day donors
To make the most of your Giving Day, you need to know who to reach out to and how to tailor your message to their interests and preferences. That’s where WealthEngine can help. WealthEngine is a powerful solution that can help you find and connect with potential donors who are likely to support your cause.
Here are some ways to make your Giving Day more impactful:
- Start with a wealth screening prior to your Giving Day. By uploading a list of your contacts, WE will apply wealth insights to that list, which will help you uncover new information on your donors’ propensity and capacity to give. With these insights, you can identify existing donors who can give even more than you thought possible.
- Use the P2G scores to get a quick overview of each individual profile in our database. You can see important indicators such as their Estimated Giving Capacity, which shows how much an individual could give over the next five years. You can also see their Propensity to Give score, which measures their likelihood of strong philanthropy. Leverage our WEAnalyze feature and other WealthEngine solutions to dive deeper into the data and discover patterns, trends, and opportunities for your Giving Day campaign. You can segment your donors based on various criteria, such as their net worth, income, lifestyle, interests, affiliations, and more. You can also create look-alike models to find new prospects who match your ideal donor profile.
- Align your mission with your donors’ passions and values. WealthEngine can help you understand what motivates your donors and what causes they care about. You can use this information to craft personalized and compelling messages that inspire them to give.
With WealthEngine, you can make a bigger impact with your Giving Data campaign by finding and engaging with the right donors at the right time. You can also build lasting relationships with them and grow your donor base for the future. To learn more about how WealthEngine can help you with your Giving Day, request a demo today.