GivingTuesday and Colorado Gives Day Marketing Checklist

GivingTuesday and Colorado Gives Day are coming soon and there are so many things to cover I made myself a checklist, which I’ll share.  GivingTuesday is December 3 and Colorado Gives Day is a week later on December 10 this year. These days are designed to motivate people to donate to their favorite nonprofit organizations. This collective effort can build momentum for youth and education nonprofits by promoting the cause, improving transparency, and celebrating.

Starting November 1, Coloradogives.org allows people to schedule donations, so the campaign can run all month long.

·       Psych up the board, supporters, and other team members to help promote these giving days. It will help create more excitement to a broader audience.

·       Although it’s an odd year and the election isn’t as big as next year’s will be, there are still ballot issues. It can make a difference in the donations people make to nonprofits if they aren’t clear on how, for example, passing a mill levy won’t fund the same programs that the education/youth nonprofit supports. School districts must describe where the funds will go when asking for a mill levy. Bonds can only be used for construction, maintenance or infrastructure needs. Chalkbeat makes the distinction between a mill and a bond here.

·       Make sure everything’s up-to-date on the web site. Promote the campaign on the front page.

·       Build excitement. Plan out social media posts and email blasts.

·       Find out if there’s a community rally on Giving Tuesday (it’s highly likely that there is, maybe at the state capitol, for example). There may also be regional ones like this one:

·       For social media, use the hashtags #COGivesDay, #GiveWhereYouLive and/or #GivingTuesday and tags @ColoradoGives or @GivingTuesday. Ask people to share why they support the organization.

·       Giving Tuesday’s toolkit has great ideas, such as “Run a Volunteer Project.” Just a few ideas for education & youth nonprofits are running a book drive for a school’s library or providing a free pancake breakfast.

·       Thank yous—think ahead about a thank you process, so the thank yous will go out quickly. It’s not original, but a thank you call is always appreciated.

·       Both organizations provide logos, email templates, banner ads and more. Here’s GivingTuesday’s complete toolkit and the ColoradoGives Day toolkit.

Good luck! Please let me know if you need any help.