Giving Tuesday Goals: Setting and Achieving Fundraising Success

Did you know Giving Tuesday, often hailed as the “Global Day of Giving” pulled in $3.1 billion dollars for charitable organizations worldwide in 2023? That is one day, and a massive amount of funding! So if you haven’t thought about making GivingTuesday a priority for your own nonprofit, you are most definitely missing out on a huge opportunity.

Originating in 2012, this day has grown into a worldwide movement that encourages people to support the causes they care about most through something the organization calls radical giving. As the calendar flips to the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States, nonprofit organizations across the globe gear up for a day that can significantly impact their annual fundraising goals in a way that only happens once a year.

So getting ahead of this super important day and deciding goals isn’t just something you should leave to your volunteers, it’s essential that your organization is prepared and ready to capitalize on what is the single most profitable day for any charitable cause. And by setting clear and obtainable goals ahead of time, you’ll know what direction your own charity needs to take in order to grab as many opportunities for funding as possible.

Remember, a well-defined goal can galvanize your supporters, streamline your strategies, and help you measure your progress effectively using actual data. As the philanthropic strategist David H. Murdock once said, “Without goals, you can’t manage your progress.” So whether you’re aiming to boost donations, increase donor engagement, or expand your donor base, clear objectives ensure that every effort you make on GivingTuesday is focused and effective.

Understanding the Importance of Giving Tuesday Goals

It should be pretty obvious from the above information and the amount of funding available on the day that being prepared for GivingTuesday needs to be something your organization takes seriously. But how exactly do you start your givingtuesday planning? The easiest way to think about this is think about it you were going on a trip.

In order to get to your destination, you’d need to know where you are now and what your final destination is. This means you can streamline your trip, look for shortcuts and opportunities that would otherwise be missed if you didn’t plan well. It’s pretty much the same thing when it comes to setting your goals for GivingTuesday. Setting goals isn’t just a strategic choice for nonprofits, it’s a fundamental element of your success. Without these targets, your efforts will most likely lack focus and fail to resonate with potential donors.

Furthermore, psychologically speaking, setting goals triggers a powerful response in both your staff and donors alike. This is because as far as your volunteers and staff go, they can see and know when they’re getting close to completing each goal which ends up inspiring them to push harder to see the goal get completed. Whereas for your donors, when they see a specific target they’re more likely to contribute because clear goals create a sense of urgency and progress that they feel responsible for.

It’s a bit like watching a countdown clock on New Year’s Eve, as the clock ticks closer to midnight, excitement builds. The same principle applies to fundraising. Both your staff and donors get motivated by seeing how close you are to reaching your givingtuesday goal and everyone wants to chip in to see it through.

Other Types of GivingTuesday Goals

Don’t forget, the entire ideology behind GivingTuesday is radical giving. This means more than people just giving charities their money, millions of people also decide to volunteer at shelters and food banks or help in some other way. So take into consideration the idea that GivingTuesday can also be a great way to get some fresh volunteers interested in your organization. And some even volunteer virtually so it doesn’t matter where your charity is in the world.

People also give items to their local charities, or food and medicine. So depending on the type of charity you’re running, physical goods can be just or more valuable than the actual cash. The same goes for services, perhaps an accountant would be willing to donate their time that day going over your books for free to make sure you’re in compliance and there’s nothing funny going on with the books. Something like this could even be done remotely. And even though they aren’t giving you any type of charitable gift, they are still helping in a direct and often satisfying way that not only helps you, but makes them feel much more connected with your cause.

Another goal could also be something as simple is getting a certain number of people to give shoutouts or likes to your social media pages. This all helps spread the news about your cause and lets people know that you have a charity that’s working to help eradicate a problem. You could combine this with new newsletter signups and clicks to your website. With a solid CRM software this is easy and fully automated. And depending on how sophisticated it is, it can tell you things like an local the click is coming form, what page or website the click came from, if it came from an email signup, and how many times they visited a page or post. All of this can make it much easier to retarget and reengage them later when things are a little less hectic.

Just don’t go too overboard with too many moving parts. You want clear and realistic goals, but you don’t need to set one for every single measurable metric. Don’t change the way you market too much just so you can get data on what happens next. Try to keep a balance with that can be measured and what objectives are most important to your specific charity.

The SMART Criteria for Fundraising Goals 

Once the Giving Tuesday day is here, you only have 24 hours to maximize your campaigns effectiveness. This takes a little careful planning and using some smart tactics. And speaking about smart tactics, applying the SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—you can create goals that not only inspire everyone involved, but also lead to tangible results.

Your objectives should be:

• Specific – Concentrate on a clear target that aligns with your mission. While having multiple goals is fine, a lack of focus can lead to confusion in measuring success.
• Measurable – Define clear metrics that indicate success. Your campaign's goals must be quantifiable so you can evaluate your impact and track progress, such as gaining new donors or increasing volunteer participation.
• Achievable – Set ambitious yet realistic goals. Think about what you’re asking from your donors and volunteers regarding their time, participation levels, and contributions.
• Relevant – Ensure your goals resonate with your overall mission. While increasing reach is valuable, the objectives should be directly tied to the changes you aim to create.
• Timely – Your campaign's timeline should fit within your mission's framework. Determine how long you have to implement your campaign and establish when you’ll consider it complete.

For each goal or activity, contemplate how you'll track progress and measure success. Your goals should always be quantifiable. Here are some helpful definitions:

• Indicator: A measurable element that helps you monitor progress toward your goal.
• Metric: A quantifiable measure that reveals whether your goal has been accomplished.
• Target: The specific number or level you aim to reach for each metric or indicator.

Something to mention here is that the GivingTuesday Foundation has actually created a handy little downloadable workbook that can help guide your entire Tuesday goals setting process. It’s a collection of worksheets to help you create a solid plan and help you with realistic goals. These are great as they are created by the organization that started it all, while also including what they’ve learned over the years as far as a successful GivingTuesday and a lack luster one.

Measuring Your Goal and Evaluating Your fundraising strategy 

After the hustle and bustle of Giving Tuesday, it’s time to sit down and see exactly how well, or not, your organization did. This is where a thoughtful post-campaign analysis comes into play, and it’s more than just a numbers game. It’s about understanding the story those numbers tell.

Start by looking at your key performance indicators (KPIs). These are the metrics that will tell you if you reached your goals or fell short. Did you increase donor engagement compared to previous years? By analyzing these KPIs, you can gauge everything from the total funds raised to the number of new donors acquired.

But they can also do more, they can also tell you how well you’ve been retaining donors. And seeing that retaining donors is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, it matters to know how well your donor retention rate is and how well they’re connected to your cause. Ask yourself, How many donors returned from last year? How engaged were they? Did they contribute more or less? Did they make a larger donation than usual? Tracking these figures helps you understand not just your current success or failure, it can sometimes provide insights into how well your marketing and donor retention process is performing so if there are any shortfalls, you’re able to pivot and do better in the coming year.

After assessing your KPIs and donor retention, dive into the qualitative data. When at all possible, survey as many supporters as possible and ask them for their feedback on their experience with your organization for the day. What did they love? What can be improved? This input is extremely invaluable so don’t feel shy about asking. It helps you grasp not just the “what” of your results but also the “why” while also making individuals feel like they are truly part of your charity.

As you look toward future campaigns, consider implementing improvement strategies based on your findings. For instance, if you notice that most of your donations came from social media outreach, you might want to double down on those channels next year. Alternatively, if donor engagement was low, maybe it’s time to rethink your communication strategy.

All of this data you now have should be very helpful when it comes to making short and long term goals for your future, as well as for next year’s GivingTuesday. If you use your information correctly, there’s no reason you can’t see a 20 to 30% bump in next years numbers. You now know without any doubts what is and what is not working, and hopefully even why. That means you can either pivot and adjust your strategies, or do more of what’s working, and do it even better for next year. Between having actual data and understanding why people reacted to your GivingTuesday fundraiser the way they have, you should be able to create a blueprint for just about any fundraising event you want to hold.

Wrapping Up

When it comes to Giving Tuesday, preparation and goal-setting is key. Just remember you should be setting and tracking a few goals, whether you're aiming to increase donations, engage more volunteers, or boost social media awareness, the more you can track without overwhelming you and your staff, the better you’ll understand how well you did and be much better prepared for next year.

The data you gather, from both real hard metrics like donor retention rates to feedback from your supporters will guide your future fundraising efforts. And, at the end of the day, it’s not just about meeting financial targets, it's about building relationships, learning, and tweaking your approach.

By setting the right goals, measuring your success correctly, and adjusting your strategies when needed, you’ll not only see growth in your fundraising, but you’ll also see it in the depth of connection between your organization and those who believe in your mission.

FAQs

What if my nonprofit is too small to participate in Giving Tuesday?

No nonprofit is too small for Giving Tuesday! The key is setting realistic goals based on your own numbers and situation. Even if you're aiming to raise a modest amount or recruit just a few volunteers, you can still leverage the GivingTuesday movement to grow your organization.

How soon should we start planning for next year’s Giving Tuesday?

Honestly, it's never too early! Actually while you’re analyzing this year’s campaign you should already be jotting down notes that will help make next year’s campaign giving the best ever.

How do I know which KPIs to track for my Giving Tuesday campaign?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) depend on your own charity’s specific goals. Common KPIs include total funds raised, new donors acquired, donor retention rates, social media engagement, and website traffic. It’s totally up to you which you choose to track depending on the breadth of your charity.

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