When is  Giving Tuesday for 2022?

November 29th, 2022

What is Giving Tuesday about?

#GivingTuesday isn’t just about fundraising, it’s about communities banding together and giving of their time, power, skills, expertise and resources. It’s about the collective spirit of generosity that brings change to our communities. pic.twitter.com/EUUHAllOUO

— GivingTuesday (@GivingTuesday) November 27, 2018

92nd Street Y and United Nations Foundation launched Giving Tuesday in 2012. The day falls the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Nonprofits capitalize on the holiday spirit and for most organizations, this period also begins end of year giving campaigns. The movement initially started as a way to drive individuals to engage with nonprofit organization. Giving Tuesday activism encourages not only donations, but volunteerism.

Social media platforms, like Twitter, play a major role with engaging a nonprofit’s core audience and increasing awareness the day of the event.

Nonprofits must use a coordinated mix such as mobile giving, social media fund raising, online donations, and volunteer sign ups. The following information discussed social media, in particular Twitter. Each social media platform has it’s own engagement strategy.

Take time to get your website updated! Create landing pages and drive social media back to your donation, volunteer, and landing pages.

In 2017, Blackbaud processed $60.9 million dollars in charitable giving for Giving Tuesday from 7,200 organizations. It record a 28% increase over 2016.

Nonprofit organizations using the DonorPerfect Fundraising Platform raised over $35 million in funds on Giving Tuesday, a 27% increase compared to Giving Tuesday 2017. Users of DonorPerfect’s Online Forms received 17% more gifts in 2018 vs. 2017, and the average online gift size increased 6% over 2017, exceeding $185.

Why should a nonprofit use Twitter for Giving Tuesday?

  • • Build a community by creating discussion.
  • • Disseminating knowledge.
  • • Encourage people to debate topics publicly (if that’s your goal)
  • • Reach and exposure.
  • • Promote your nonprofit’s cause
  • • Giving Tuesday is a worldwide campaign

Twitter encourages short burst conversations and rapid reply and response. It’s almost real time communication. Twitter can help amplify your nonprofit’s messages prior to and the day of Giving Tuesday. Use the #GivingTuesday hashtag to get into the stream. Also use other hashtags unique to your nonprofit organization or campaign.

People want to feel connected to nonprofit organizations. A lot of people feel that nonprofits are closed off and uncommunicative. However, Twitter allows a conversation to happen for multiple parties. You can use social media as a tool to educate people about your nonprofit or take action.

Getting people to take some type of action is the major tenant of Giving Tuesday. Nonprofits can build a community of people who are support of their cause with Twitter.

Start the Giving Tuesday campaign on your nonprofit’s website. Drive as much of the conversation back to your own website as possible. Web analytic tools allow you to collect more information about user behavior than social media platforms like Twitter.

When should  nonprofits start with social media post for Giving Tuesday?

Nonprofits should start  promoting Giving Tuesday campaigns at least 2 months prior to the date. Start the planning for campaigns as early as possible. Typically, when your Giving Tuesday campaign finishes nonprofits should evaluate outcomes to determine successes and failures.

How should nonprofits evaluate Twitter GivingTuesday campaigns?

Measure your social reach, retweets, mentions, and how many people visited the website from Twitter. Create a segment in Google Analytics to measure traffic from Twitter verses all other traffic.  You can then narrow down information in various reports to find trends. Setup non-transaction conversions goals in  Google Analytics to  measure actions people took prior monetary transaction.

Google Analytics is a great choice to measure online monetary donation, volunteer sign ups, and newsletter sign ups. Your evaluation will not be successful without  measuring e-commerce transactions (donations).
Measure the number of steps required to get to the final conversion.

You can also import data into Google Analytics, but this is an advance use case  (another topic entirely!).

What are the relevant Twitter hashtags to use for a Giving Tuesday for a social media campaign?

As a generic asset, #GivingTuesday, is perfect. However, your nonprofit’s message will eventually get lost in the Twitter sphere. Create unique hashtags relevant to your cause. Perform a Twitter Search to determine how much competition exists for a hashtag.

Twitter hashtag activism has driven many notable campaigns in categories such as awareness, human rights, political, and trending events. Use hashtags directly related to your cause. Look at your mission statement and information from the nonprofit’s website for potential mission related hashtags. For example look at how Four Paws USA use of #AnimalRights and #AnimalWelfare:

These are the happy endings you can be responsible for. Consider donating to save lives and provide animals with joy they never knew possible https://t.co/yPfaRMw21C #FOURPAWS #AnimalRights #AnimalWelfare #GivingTuesday pic.twitter.com/m1osoF8Vmf

— FOUR PAWS USA (@FOURPAWSUSA) July 23, 2019

Create conversational hashtags that get people talking about your nonprofit. Join Twitter #GivingTuesday campaigns with co-connected hashtags (similar or related to your organization). Co-connected tags do not directly effecting your nonprofit’s mission statement.

Action oriented keyword tell people to take time to do something. Consider what actions you want individuals to take. For example, if your Twitter Giving Tuesday goal is to increase volunteers, use a hashtag like #VolunteerToday. Hope After Polygamy uses several hashtags, but the look at the action oriented #EsacapingPolygamy. It can be used in several ways to extend their organization’s cause on Twitter.

Here’s one of our Founder’s Julie (in black) with her sisters, (who also left The Kingston Group) all in Hope shirts on a trip to Bryce Canyon! Such inspiriting women! Have you gotten your Hope shirt yet? https://t.co/sPU59n0f54 #GivingTuesday #polygamy #EscapingPolygamy pic.twitter.com/cKF3GkJbUI

— Hope After Polygamy (@HopeAftPolygamy) July 30, 2019

Consider episodic event hashtags occur indefinitely as a way to drive long term engagement with your audience. For example, #Wednesday or #TT (throwback Thursday) always trend on those specific days. Single event hashtags (SEH) are usually about events in the news or media. SEH usually one one off events, so don’t expect any long term engagement. The Kir Foundation uses #TuesdayMotivation and #KnowWhatMatters for both an episodic and action oriented Twitter campaign.

“Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.”
– John D. Rockefeller #GivingTuesday #TuesdayThoughts #TuesdayMotivation #TuesdayMorning #quotes #KnowWhatMatters #givingback pic.twitter.com/pBOkFsXoCG

— kirfoundation (@kirfoundation) April 9, 2019

How long should the Twitter Giving Tuesday campaign last?

You want to start planning for Giving Tuesday as early as possible. But, the actual social media campaigns, including Twitter, will happen the December 3, 2019. Plan for twenty four to forty eight hours for your social media post. However, you still have to do assessments after all donations are processed.

The entire campaign could be 3-4 months. Don’t think just day of, plan ahead for all possibilities. Ronald McDonald House here in Memphis understands the importance of early planning. I have seen Tweets from RMH since early July.

How often should we Tweet during Giving Tuesday before, during, and after?

Set a reasonable donation time period for Giving Tuesday. For example, all you may set the ask period a week before Giving Tuesday and have the end date December 31, 2019. This will allow you to measure the effects of your campaigns for this period of time.

Nonprofit Tech for Good recommends sending Tweets a minimum of 2X hourly. Retweet donors, supporters, and ambassadors. If you have a large following on Twitter, host a tweet chat.

Best practices for #GivingTuesday campaigns on Twitter

1. If users tweet, donate, or engage – THANK THEM for their support.
2. Multi-channel approach to Giving Tuesday
3. Feedback mechanisms and listening to audience.
4. Segmenting messages to the right audience (your donors and volunteers know the people in their social media list).
5. Create a post-Giving Tuesday engagement plan for donors and volunteers
6. Use current donor information to find influencers
7. Read Nonprofit Tech for Good article on Top 5 Social Media Best Practices for #GivingTuesday

8. Enlist Twitter Influencers to assist with spreading your nonprofit’s message (local celebrities, gamers, vloggers, bloggers, national celebrities-if you can get them, and your own network)
9. Use and experiment with Twitter’s different tweet formats
10. If your nonprofit can afford it, step up the game and use Twitter’s Paid Advertising Platform
11. Expound on the work and impact your nonprofit has on the community
12. Link back to your website. Create landing pages to give broader information about your nonprofit. Use Google Analytics campaign trackers (utm) to track urls. Although Google does a pretty good job of tracking visits from Twitter, you want to separate normal visits from your Giving Tuesday Campaign.
13. Get people off Twitter and into your email sign up flow (you can market to people even after Giving Tuesday)
14. Track your campaigns with an analytics program
15. Like hashtags, use keywords in your campaigns
16. Use 2-3 hashtags in each tweet
17. Make @ mentions where relevant. Use Twitter Private Messages (PM) to create personalized Twitter experiences for individuals
18. Use imagery as a way to promote your mission. Although Twitter only allows 240 characters, images offer the potential to deliver more of your mission or message.

19. Download and read  GivingTuesday.org’s Social Media Guide 

What types of appeal work best for Twitter?

Encourage people to create a social media fundraiser if they cannot afford to give. Twitter recommends showcasing photos, quotes, statistics and stories about your cause.

  1. Use Twitter as a lead generation tool and to expand membership.
  2. Use Giving Tuesday as a volunteer recruitment drive. Post upcoming or current volunteer opportunities.
  3. Use Twitter mentions as a way to get into potential funders spotlight. Post donation information in Tweets, but connect those tweets to donation landing pages.
  4. What types of donations does the nonprofit accept? Types of donations include employer match, products, and or other assets.
  5. Use Giving Tuesday as a way to build the nonprofit’s publicity by mentioning local reporters.

Here are a few Giving Tuesday Sample Tweets by nonprofits on Twitter:

In just two days, it will be #Giving Tuesday, an international day of giving designed to benefit non-profit organizations—like Downtown Radio. We encourage you to donate. If you can’t afford to donate now, you can still help by creating a Facebook fundraiser! pic.twitter.com/se8Q2PxeSz

— DowntownRadio Tucson (@DwntwnRadio991) November 25, 2018

After giving Tuesday, highlight what fundraising goals your nonprofit achieved.

Thank you for making #Giving Tuesday a success for wild horses. With your help, we hit our goal and unlocked our full $50,000 match! Thank you for being with us as we continue to stand up for #wildhorses and burros. #keepwildhorseswild pic.twitter.com/CErGUkzJlD

— AWHC (@FreeWildHorses) November 28, 2018

Don’t encourage just donations. Use Giving Tuesday as a way to recruit volunteers:

Again Ronald McDonald House encourages alternative donations, like drink can tabs:

Did you know we collect pop tabs? At RMHC Memphis we accept pop tab donations that can be turned in for additions funds for our House and the families we serve. Simply collect and donate–it’s that easy!#GivingTuesday #forRMHC #keepingfamiliesclose pic.twitter.com/xB7xxaTeFa

— RMHC Memphis (@RMHMemphis) August 20, 2019

Do something unique, creative, and outside the norm:

Educate donors about not only Giving Tuesday, but match appeals, why they should continue donate throughout the year.

Create a compelling case for support on your website. Twitter only allows 280 characters plus an image or video. You must pack a ton of information into a short Tweet. Use twitter hash tags, teaser information, and mentions where relevant. The organization’s landing page can provide more information. Use landing pages wisely. Tell compelling stories, use data visualization, and call to actions to increase conversions. Explain why individuals should donate or volunteer on Giving Tuesday and even throughout the year.

What are the types of campaigns nonprofits can promote on Twitter?

Here are a few GivingTuesday ideas for nonprofits to help you build a Twitter campaign. Focus on the following elements when you craft the campaign:

  • • Shareable appeals
  • • Creating impact Tweets (in under 240 characters)
  • • Live Tweet Events, Unselfie post
  • • Use stream live videos during as part of the content strategy
  • •Showcase the uniqueness of your organization and it’s impact on the community
  • •Use storytelling as an element within videos.
  • •Use Twitter Threads to tell longer stories.
  • •Tell people what you wan them to do with call to actions => watch this video and share, sign a petition,
  • •Remember the consumer journey – not everybody is a a stage to donate to the nonprofit (People in the awareness phase (just learned about the organization) will not jump on the GivingTuesday bandwagon and make a donation. Twitter is a top of funnel awareness tool. Your website is the middle, donation pages are the bottom. Top of funnel users may watch videos, like pictures, or share content.
  • •Start planning in May or June, with first stage execution in August or September. Hopefully by the end the time GivingTuesday arrives, people are at another stage of the consumer journey. Tailor content such as in-depth webinars or personalize emails to increase brand awareness.

List of resource & tools for nonprofits (free or low cost).

  • Tweet Deck, Social Sprout, Google Analytics with e-Commerce, donation platforms
  • • Integrating with content management systems, donor platforms, and CRM
  • • Social sharing tools
  • ◦ Post scheduling -Canva, HubSpot, TweetDeck (it’s an awesome free Twitter tool for scheduling post, list building, following hashtags, and a ton of other thing).
  • Canva for Nonprofits (apply for Canva for Nonprofit Program) can be used to make videos, create image asset, and GIFs. You can also schedule social media content within Canva.
  • Giving Tuesday Assets (Giving Tuesday Logs)
  • • Use your own images and videos that the nonprofit has accumulated from events. Owned assets will have a bigger impact than stock images.
  • • Nonprofit’s website. If Twitter is top of funnel in the customer journey, your website should be considered middle. If you have created curiosity for the organization on Twitter, people will seek out your website to learn more about the nonprofit’s mission.
  • Links in Tweets need to have Google url parameters appended to determine the source of the click. Once that person lands on your website, have a strategy for the person to join the email list. Donations pages integrate with your domain name. People have built trust with your organization. They don’t like to be led to donation pages that appear fishy. Integrate donation pages!
  • • Linking and partnering with influencers, leaders, influencer-donor networks, celebrities, volunteers
  • ◦ How gamers can provide a boost in Giving Tuesday
  • https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/facebook-gaming-giving-tuesday-livestreams-1203048644/
  • ◦ Create A Giving Tuesday Ambassador program-
  • ▪ https://www.nptechforgood.com/?s=giving+tuesday
  • • Trending and creating hashtags generators
  • • Tagging and Twitter
  • • Idea collaboration tools (Asana, Google Docs & Spreadsheet)
  • • ADVANCE USE TOOL- Twitter’s API & Python or other chosen program language (if you or someone you know can code)

Conclusion:

There are a ton of ways to use Twitter to drive user engagement for Giving Tuesday. Take time to plan your what realistic goals you hope to achieve. Outline your objectives to achieving those goals and any tools needed to make Twitter a bigger part of your digital online marketing strategy for your nonprofit. Success can be measured beyond donations. Did you increase your email sign up rate? Did you increase or better engage with followers?

Also look at the example Tweets to determine how your nonprofit organization can incorporate a few of the best practices. Don’t just make Twitter campaigns a one time or once per year marketing campaign. Integrate your social media processes to gain a broader audience.

Additional Reading List & References (Twitter specific)

Hashtag Activism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag_activism

Kupe, Jonathan. 2013 . Tweeting stories and donations for #GivingTuesday retrieved from https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/a/2013/tweeting-stories-and-donations-for-givingtuesday.html

Lovejoy, Kristen , Waters, Richard D., & Saxton Gregory D.. 2012. Engaging stakeholders through Twitter: How nonprofit organizations are getting more out of 140 characters or less. Public Relations Review Volume 38- 2, p 313-318. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811112000082

McGougan, Nicole. 2017 Giving Tuesday Highest on Record. Nov 29, 2017, 15:06 PM. Retrieved August 11, 2019 from https://www.blackbaud.com/newsroom/article/2017/11/29/2017-giving-tuesday-highest-on-record

Nonprofits Raise 27% More Funds on #GivingTuesday. DonorPerfect reports record online donation levels for Giving Tuesday 2018. November 29, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2019 from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nonprofits-raise-27-more-funds-on-givingtuesday-300757617.html

Ogden, Timothy. The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Giving Tuesday. The effort to make giving public and start a “giving season” won’t materially affect giving in any positive way. November 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2019 from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_curmudgeons_guide_to_giving_tuesday

Parker, Emily. 2014. The giving season: a Twitter Ads guide for nonprofits retrieved from https://blog.twitter.com/marketing/en_us/a/2014/the-giving-season-a-twitter-ads-guide-for-nonprofits.html

Third Annual #GivingTuesday Raises $45.7 Million for Charity. December 5, 2014. Retrieved from: http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/third-annual-givingtuesday-raises-45.7-million-for-charity

Hou, Youyang & Lampe, Cliffe. 2018. Social Media Effectiveness for Public Engagement: An Example of Small Nonprofits retrieved from https://nonprofitquarterly.org/social-media-effectiveness-for-public-engagement-an-example-of-small-nonprofits/

Jodie provides auditing, restructuring and building PPC campaigns for nonprofits. She focuses on driving awareness to content, events, and important areas of your nonprofit organization's website. In her spare time, she loves baking awesome cookies, reading, and learning new tech topics! What question is she pondering at the moment: Are Hexa- chocolate (5 types of chocolate) chip chunk cookies, too decadent?