Giving Tuesday: Leveraging your nonprofit website

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements and consumerism, Giving Tuesday exists to shift the focus that surrounds the holiday season to a more charitable spirit.

Your website is the virtual face of your organization, representing your mission and the work you do to create a positive change in the world. When strategically utilized, your website becomes a dynamic tool to engage supporters and driving them to take meaningful actions. In this article, we’ve outlined key website strategies to make the most of this Giving Tuesday.

What is Giving Tuesday?

Giving Tuesday is a worldwide day of charitable giving and volunteering. It was first established in 2012 by the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in collaboration with the 92nd Street Y. The initiative swiftly gained momentum, evolving into a global movement that now involves millions of people, nonprofits, and businesses.

The essence of Giving Tuesday lies in its simplicity—a day to focus on others, spread kindness, and give back to society.

Using your website as a catalyst for change

Leveraging your website on Giving Tuesday can greatly boost your reach, engagement, and ultimately, your impact. Here are key strategies to maximize your Giving Tuesday campaign:

Brand your campaign

The Giving Tuesday organization provides the original source files and encourages modifying their logo to fit your unique branding. By infusing your distinct color palette, fonts, and design elements, you can transform the traditional logo into a powerful representation of your mission and values.

Create a purposeful landing page

A dedicated landing page on your website is the heart of your Giving Tuesday campaign. Clearly articulate the purpose of the campaign and the difference contributions can make. Provide a seamless path for visitors to get involved, whether through donations, volunteering, or sharing the campaign.

Highlight impact stories

Humanize your cause by showcasing real constituent stories. Demonstrate that change is possible through collective support by sharing the tangible impact of past donations. Personal stories resonate deeply, inspiring others to be a part of the journey.

Embrace peer-to-peer fundraising or crowdfunding

Empower your supporters to be ambassadors for your cause through peer-to-peer fundraising or crowdfunding campaigns. Encourage them to create their own fundraising pages and rally their network to contribute. This extends your reach and engagement beyond your immediate audience.

Set fundraising goals and display progress

Establish a clear fundraising goal and prominently display it on your website. Regularly update the progress towards this goal or integrate a live donation tracker on your landing page. The sense of urgency and excitement generated by this tracker motivates others to contribute, knowing their donations are part of a larger movement for change.

Promote matching gifts

Leverage matching gifts as a powerful incentive. Collaborate with corporate partners or utilize a grant to match donations, effectively doubling the impact of each contribution. Inform your audience of this opportunity, encouraging them to donate with the promise of their donations being matched.

Productize donations for greater engagement

Consider presenting donations as products with different values or ‘packages’ showcasing the tangible outcomes of each donation. For instance, a $50 donation could buy a school kit for a child, providing transparency and tangible value to donors.

Giving Tuesday campaign in action

With Giving Tuesday right around the corner, Helping Our Women wanted to leverage the occasion to highlight their Year End Appeal that doubles donations up to $20,000.

Infused branding

Giving Tuesday offers users the original source files and encourages you to make it your own. We kept the original font to preserve the contrast but changed the colors to match the HOW branding. We also saw an opportunity to replace the Giving Tuesday “v” symbol with HOW’s branded heart symbol.

Campaign landing page

For the campaign landing page, we emphasized “Double Your Impact” prominently with bold, eye-catching typography. The donation form was condensed and positioned at the page’s top to reduce barriers and streamline the giving process. We also incorporated positive imagery, success stories from constituents, and impactful data to engage donors and show them the impact of their support.

Homepage countdown

We wanted to call attention to the Giving Tuesday campaign from the home page and create a sense of excitement and anticipation. We accomplished this with the use of a countdown timer to the upcoming Giving Tuesday.

Social media posts

Lastly, we aimed to involve HOW’s social media audience who might not have visited the website. We designed a pre-campaign post to notify them about the upcoming initiative, as well as a post for the actual campaign day.

Final thoughts

Giving Tuesday is a momentous opportunity to inspire positive change and collectively work towards a better world. By leveraging your website and implementing these powerful strategies, you can elevate your Giving Tuesday campaign and drive significant impact. Contact us to start strategizing today!

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