Tips for GivingTuesday

ACM GivingTuesday logo

GivingTuesday, November 29th this year, reimagines the world as one founded upon generosity. The idea is simple but powerful: every act of generosity counts, and everyone has something to give. Now in its tenth year, GivingTuesday is a movement not just a moment on the calendar to enact kindness including and beyond giving money.  

The day is often seen as a time to solicit donations, a nice antidote to the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but there are many ways to be generous along with fundraising: hosting a festival or drive, a day or volunteerism, making it a day of thanking your supporters, encouraging peer-to-peer fundraisers for your organization, hosting a social media take over on your platforms, random acts of kindness kits or campaigns. 

GivingTuesday does impact giving behavior: 

84% of those aware of GivingTuesday are inspired to give more 

82% of those aware of GivingTuesday participate 

GivingTuesday is sticky; the people you activate and donors you gain strongly tend to be loyal 

Here are some resources to support you in your GivingTuesday plans. 

 

GivingTuesday Toolkit for Nonprofits 

GivingTuesday, begun at the 92nd Street Y ten years ago and now its own nonprofit, provides a workbook as a step-by-step guide: key messages, activations, social media plans, campaign ideas, plus editable logo files and design templates.  

Have your supporters, followers, Board members, and community add GivingTuesday to their calendars with one click. 

 

Kindness Activities 

No need to reinvent the wheel: click here for a catalog of acts of kindness you can lead or simply share among your community. 

 

Go for the Gold: Seal of Transparency 

Candid, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the social sector, provides nonprofits with profiles that share their mission and demonstrate their transparency to potential donors and funders. Details about earning a seal of transparency here. Candid sees a large spike, a 220% increase for GivingTuesday 2021 over non-seasonal periods, on profile views as potential donors review organizations they are considering contributing towards.

Now, though December 31, 2023; if your museum is a less than $1mil operation and you earn your Gold Seal, you qualify for a year of free access to the Foundation Directory, a real research boost to your fundraising efforts year-round.  

 

Giving Together 

GivingTuesday can be a lighter lift for your museum by joining with a local community movement. There are over 240 networks within the United States for GivingTuesday and 80 countries worldwide with movements of their own. Check the to see if there’s an existing movement you can join by clicking the links above. 

Or, a children’s museum is a natural to start a giving coalition and be the catalyst for a community campaign. Children’s Museums of Fond du Lac is among three Wisconsin nonprofits that joined forces starting in 2020 creating Together FDL, a collective of 15 local nonprofits. Andrea Welsch Executive Director of the Children’s Museum of Fond du Lac acknowledges it can be scary: fear that your piece of donations pie will shrink, or that it’s too close to year’s end to ask. But data shows neither is the case. Fond du Lac’s experience, born of the economic straits caused by the pandemic, was that the many hands of the community make light work. It was worth it to all participants, and they’ll be campaign as a collective for a third year this November. 

 

Multiply the Value of a Gift Through Matching 

Use the pledge of one person or organization to inspire others to give. People are 84% more likely to donate if they know they’ll be matched. You can look for your matching donor among your Board Members, major donors or capital campaign contributors, vendors and sponsors, or a local celebrity or influencer. More good news; the amount of the match doesn’t matter greatly in terms of incentivizing giving. 

 

The Associations of Children’s Museums (ACM) champions children’s museums worldwide. Follow ACM on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.