By Paul Clolery
Donations in the United States on GivingTuesday hit at least a hefty $3.1 billion and yet when you talk to fundraisers there appears to be some disappointment. While many nonprofits had a great day on November 28, reaction appears to be a matter of perspective and expectation.
“If your whole fundraising goal is built on one day, you’re going to be disappointed,” said Jenn Thompson, vice president of fundraising firm RKD Group in Dallas, Texas. She was quick to point out that organizations did well where fundraisers had plans in place for all contingencies.
“I imagine that boards are expecting larger increases year-over-year as far as revenue. Some of it is education. That revenue is similar to what we saw in some cases in some verticals pre-pandemic is actually a success,” said Adva Priso, chief strategy officer at Moore Digital in Lanham, Maryland. “If you can increase year-over-year it is wonderful.”
GivingTuesday squeezed out just an estimated 0.6% gain compared to 2022 and those numbers include a decline of roughly 10% in the number of people who participated in the annual day of generosity.
The decline in participation mirrors what charities have been seeing through most of the year. “Our goal with GivingTuesday, not just on the day itself but year-round, is to create an ecosystem of giving that helps communities, causes, and organizations across the globe,” said Asha Curran, GivingTuesday’s chief executive officer. “However, we are concerned to see a decline in participation in line with giving trends from the past year.”
An ecosystem is what fundraisers were trying to build and that often needed an early start. “One organization did a postcard a week and a half before GivingTuesday and that did phenomenally,” said Thompson. “So much happens on the day. You have to have a good plan for the day before and the day after,” said Thompson.
One silo that had some challenges was healthcare, and hospitals in particular. “Overall, clients did really well. Those that were flat or behind, there were very specific reasons,” said Priso. For example, certain hospitals did not allow pixeling of data and that is becoming more common in healthcare.
Online ads need to allow for pixels on a charity’s website so the organization can remarket to people who click on the website. Some healthcare organizations are not allowing that because of privacy rules.
Both Thompson and Priso are strong supporters of matching gifts as a way to boost response. Thompson said that one organization’s match went so well they extended match giving past GivingTuesday. “They (donors) like the idea that somebody’s helping. There is so much response, especially if you can break out of the two-times match to a three-times match,” said Thompson.
In testing a three-times match outpulls a two-times match, according to Priso. “The three-time match definitely won out,” she said.
Texting donors was very active this year and will continue to be, especially for donors who have opted out of receiving emails. “Texting really has to be in everyone’s plan now,” said Thompson. She said that between 30% and 50% of donors who gave via text had opted out of receiving emails.
There were two types of texting during GivingTuesday, peer-to-peer and broadcast. Peer-to-peer, technically, is sent out one at a time but mostly mechanically by a vendor. However, someone is ready to answer texts should a potential donor have a question. For broadcast, you need the person to be opted-in. Lists are available for this type of texting, but they are expensive and the response not great.
Digital used to be the inexpensive counterpart to direct mail. That’s not the case anymore. “Search cost, that’s cost per click, was up 300% to 800%. On Meta, cost per thousand was up 30% to 50%,” Priso said. Even though prices are climbing, an omni-channel approach that involves email, text, paid media and earned media is vital. Of course, direct mail is important, too.
Influencers are important online supporters for the day. The key for them is to be real advocates of the organization. “I’d like to see more of an influencer strategy if you have someone with a big following,” said Thompson. “It has to feel authentic and not just a paid spokesperson situation. … I think that can do well.” Having local media onsite at a GivingTuesday event also boosted response, especially later in the day during the local news.
Competition was a problem and not just between nonprofits. For-profit firms were advertising product and using a GivingTuesday tie-in that a percentage of a sale would go to a charity. “For-profits started messaging for GivingTuesday around Cyber Monday and Cyber Week,” said Priso. Travel firms were co-branding their charity partnerships and, in some cases, using a GivingTuesday logo.
That level of competition is going to continue. As retail spreads out its special days into week-long events, charities will need to expand the GivingTuesday marketing and giving cycle, said Priso. That means planning for GivingTuesday 2024 should have already started.
Priso said that the competition will be more combative during 2024. GivingTuesday will come right after a presidential election, and the commercial entities are getting more aggressive with co-branding and the usual fight to share of wallet versus other charities.
