Heading into Giving Tuesday the year after the extreme generosity of 2020 was making many nonprofit fundraisers anxious. Yet, despite consumer pessimism, other economic indicators (unemployment trending down and markets trending up) seemed to bode well for solid giving metrics at year end. And so far, that’s proving to be true for Giving Tuesday.
The Giving Tuesday Data Commons estimates that Giving Tuesday revenue in the U.S. alone reached $2.7 billion – a 9% increase over Giving Tuesday 2020 and a 37% increase over 2019. This continued generosity is a significant sign, especially after record-high fundraising totals last year for the global day of giving.
Nonprofits have improved their outreach year over year around Giving Tuesday, now in its 9th year. And the majority of Avalon’s clients exceeded their 2021 Giving Tuesday totals with multi-effort email series, strategic web techniques, social media outreach, and text messaging campaigns.
Many components contributed to a boost in year-over-year results. Strong email marketing campaigns stood out in crowded inboxes. Smart social media and text campaigns made the outreach truly multichannel. And strategic web techniques elevated messaging to all website visitors. And yes, some of the revenue increases were due to increased email file sizes and extra outreach. But most of our clients saw increased performance metrics, too. And this points to more productive files.
Additionally, organizations that presented a strong case for giving beyond the mere fact that it was Giving Tuesday were able to engage their donors in meaningful ways. And those that paired their messages with mission-relevant techniques (check out these cool animations!) saw strong results.
Matching gifts, countdown clocks, and mission-based storytelling won the day. And, beyond multi-effort email campaigns, donors gave through our clients’ websites, homepage takeovers and lightboxes, digital ads , social media posts and fundraisers, and SMS text appeals.
Now that we’ve survived Giving Tuesday, we’re full steam ahead with hopeful optimism for strong year-end fundraising. Cheers to continued generosity from your donors!