It is giving season, with Giving Tuesday here after the long Thanksgiving weekend. Now is the best time of the year to reach out to your Donors and make sure that they are thinking of you as they give thanks for the year and give donations into the end of the tax year. Check out resources at GivingTuesday.org #GivingTuesday
Consider all those touchpoints from social media to emailing. Wild Apricot offers a wonderful discussion and examples of the use of emails to your donors (and volunteers) on or around Giving Tuesday #GivingTuesday.
Let’s review how we got to the last Tuesday of November as Giving Tuesday.
First, it is a busy week starting on Thanksgiving.
Black Friday is named such as a target date for companies to move from losing money for the year into profits, out of the red and into the black. Basically, if you paid all your expenses at the beginning of the year, all future sales after the break-even point would be pure profits. Thanksgiving Day, at the end of November is a wonderful target, that leaves one month of pure profits. Plus, if the last month of the year is disproportionate – like Christmas sales – that is pure gravy!
So, let’s see what we have in November. Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday. Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Sunday Football (or futbol, same name, different game). Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday. Buyer’s remorse Wednesday. Returns Thursday.
Well, all right, I made up the last two, but they are kinda true.….
Hidden in the schedule at the end of November – before Christmas & New Years season – is Giving Tuesday. This is a perfect time to reach out to past donors to thank them, and touch base with prospective donors. Everyone (or business) doing year-end tax planning will benefit from the reminder to get their donations organized and submitted to their favorite charities to make a difference this year. Plus, tax deductions are an added incentive to give donors an extra nudge.
Happy Thanksgiving, Shopping & Giving Week.
Elmer Hall (c) SBP
First Published on IntellZine.com (reprinted and revised here with permission of Author).
Check out Hall & Hinkelman’s book on Nonprofit Planning and Impactful Giving for more on fundraising and philanthropic ecosystems.
#GivingTuesday #PhilanthropicEcosystem #TheArtOfGiving #PerpetualInnovation #VirtuousCycle #Fundraising
Hall, E. B. & Hinkelman, R. M. (2022). Perpetual Innovation™: Strategic planning for nonprofits and the art of impactful giving: the gift of giving, the art of caring. ISBN: 979-8842614615
Retrieved from: Amazon.com/dp/B0BF8MB13X (Available on Kindle eBook as well.)
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