As we enter the final gasps of 2020, nonprofits are looking ahead. And Giving Tuesday is giving them reason to smile. Despite the ongoing pandemic, rising unemployment rates, and voters still recovering from the election, donors maintained their generosity and are giving nonprofits – and those they serve –hope of closing out 2020 on a good note.
In all, Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving, is predicted to surpass $605 million – an 18% increase over 2019. The majority of Avalon clients have been tracking ahead of 2019 since the pandemic hit in March. And Giving Tuesday was no exception! All but one of Avalon’s clients far exceeded their 2019 Giving Tuesday totals with multi-effort email series, social outreach, and website promotion.
This year Giving Tuesday was as early as it could be, yet many organizations got a jump on the day by starting their campaigns up to a week ahead of time. And some even extended their Giving Tuesday offers through Wednesday. While revenue was certainly higher, we are also monitoring other metrics based on file makeup to see our way ahead. On Giving Tuesday, organizations that saw surges in new donors in response to the pandemic in FY20 had higher email quantities, which helped compensate for slightly lower response rates from the influx of new donors. However, many more nonprofits that have been suppressing inactive email subscribers, are reaching fewer, yet more committed donors, giving response rates—and in turn, revenue—a boost.
Nonprofit organizations also made it easier for donors to give wherever they might be. Beyond multi-effort email campaigns, donors gave to our clients’ websites, homepage takeovers and lightboxes, social media posts and fundraisers, and SMS text appeals.
Matching gifts, countdown clocks, and mission-based storytelling won the day. If you weren’t using one of these ubiquitous techniques, you may have missed an opportunity to get in front of your donors, especially organizations that have seen incredible growth this year.
We are hopeful that the generosity of #GivingTuesday will continue through December, when our clients raise as much as 30% of their online revenue for the year.
So, we’ll forge ahead and continue to hunker down at home, repeatedly hitting the refresh button on our donation page totals. Cheers to year-end fundraising!