The Odd Leap from Online Dating to Giving Tuesday
After the failed alumni event with my friend Tessa, she decided to be more assertive about meeting people in her city. During a recent visit, she told me she was fully committed to online dating.
My husband and I have been married a long time, and we’ve known Tessa for a long time. When she is all in, all of us are in. I have zero experience with online dating and have not seen an app in action. It was a learning opportunity! So, the three of us spent five hours evaluating the available men on two platforms. Yes, there was dinner, wine, and hilarity involved.
Tessa had deal breakers. She was clear about what she wanted. Were the photos compelling? Could the man articulate his values, and were they aligned with Tessa’s? Many men lost out because their marketing was abysmal. This is an opportunity that some men were not fully embracing—one that could change lives with a split-second decision.
It reminded me of Giving Tuesday. Just like online dating, Giving Tuesday is a sort of broad-based, impersonal approach. Still, let’s think about ways to maximize your fundraising opportunities surrounding this now ubiquitous event.
Giving Tuesday has three purposes for schools, as I see it:
Create an influx of donations early in the school year (fuel the budget)
Attract new donors to love and support your organization (widen your base of support)
Capitalize on the machine that is Giving Tuesday (recognizable and convenient for current donors, easy implementation for a small development shop)
The avenues to success in online dating and Giving Tuesday are articulating your value proposition, being beautifully packaged, and rising above the clutter. We all want love, whether we are a nonprofit looking for new supporters or single people looking to be a couple.
In a podcast interview with Rhea Wong, the host of Nonprofit Lowdown, Woodrow Rosenbaum, Chief Data Officer of Giving Tuesday, talks about the risk in focusing on only the largest donors as an overall development strategy and not actively creating a broader base of support among smaller donors. He believes that initiatives like Giving Tuesday invite future leadership supporters and friends. I get that and encourage schools to widely publicize their Giving Tuesday appeal and increase the number of asks surrounding the campaign.
So, what will elevate your Giving Tuesday success, setting the stage for those future leadership supporters? Essentially, how do we invite more people to swipe right for your school?
Give yourself a runway leading up to Giving Tuesday. Plan your campaign in the summer. Work with your communications team or an outside marketing firm to create at least six weeks of appeals leading up to Giving Tuesday. Tell a story or series of stories that illustrate your school’s best work and true commitments. Each week has a call to action.
Create a match opportunity. Ask a trustee or one of your leadership donors to offer their annual fund gift or a portion of it as a match for Giving Tuesday. Candid says this is one of the top five ways to level up your campaign.
Mail to everyone you can. Send the appeal to everyone in your database. Segment the message by constituency. Consider a digital advertising strategy to boost awareness, particularly if an aspect of your program has broader community appeal (woodland trails that are open to the public or a food pantry). In my conversation with Angie Ward, founder of Enroll Media Group, she said she has clients that have increased their advertising budget for Giving Tuesday. However, “You can also run a Google business post, LinkedIn post, and YouTube video—all for free.”
Come up with a Monday Morning Quarterback plan. After Giving Tuesday, look at all the gifts. Who are your new donors? What surprises do you see? Work with your team to talk about your stewardship plan for each Giving Tuesday donor. Decide which donors to invite to meet with you to learn more about them and begin a more meaningful conversation. Yes, you must create real relationships for this to be a viable means to truly advance your school.
Like our dating app comparison, we need to start conversations with some of the donors, the ones who have aligned with us around a shared interest and have demonstrated a capacity for giving. That’s how a blanket approach to fundraising can become a path to advancing your school with a few donors deeply invested in your school’s success.
Let’s quarterback your Giving Tuesday results together and elevate your strategy. Oh, and I can update you on Tessa’s relationship status at the same time.
The author, Jill Goodman, is a consultant working with independent school leaders to advance their school’s mission, enhance their processes, and bolster their skills. Learn more about all services here.
Photo credit: Unsplash
