Every year it feels like the holiday season starts earlier and earlier... But did you know this time coincides with the highest giving time of the year for nonprofit organizations?

The kick off of this season has transformed into a national day called #GivingTuesday2017. Thanks to social media and online giving capabilities this “holiday” has helped organizations all over the world raise more than ever before ($177 million in 2016 to be exact)!

With that being said, is your organization ready for November 28th, 2017? Not to fear! Coordinating your #GivingTuesday2017 campaign will be easy if you follow this guide:

1. Set Organization Goals

62% of all nonprofits that participated in Giving Tuesday 2015 set a fundraising goal and 44% achieved it. With that being said, having a goal will not only increase the amount of donations but also give your team something to celebrate when you meet it!

However, your organization’s goals can be more than just a specific monetary amount you want to hit. Although this is a great place to start, take a look at the other types of goals that your organization could set:

• How many new donors do you want to acquire?
• How many followers do you want to gain through your social media campaign?
• How many donors do you want to set up a monthly gift option?
• How much of an impact do you want to see from the funds raised?

Now that you have figured out what kind of goals your team wants to set, let’s figure out what kind of campaign will be best in order to achieve them!

2. What Kind of Campaign?

Although Giving Tuesday was originally created to be a one day event, nonprofits all over the world have started using it as there kick off to an end of the year or holiday giving campaign. Whatever you may choose be sure to pick one and stick with it throughout the planning and execution of the campaign.

Here’s a few examples of the kinds of campaigns you could use:

• One-Day Campaign: Your efforts are all geared towards making your goals on #GivingTuesday alone.
• Volunteer Campaign: You are asking the long-time supporters of your organization to create personal fundraising pages and reach a certain monetary goal within a couple of weeks of #GivingTuesday.
• Monthly Giving Campaign: You are using #GivingTuesday as a chance to recruit donors to your organization that will be recurring.  
• End of the Year Campaign: Kick start your holiday season goal by starting on #GivingTuesday and continuing the social media and emails throughout the rest of the year.

Now that you have set your goals and picked a campaign, you need to make sure that your organization is ready to collect these donations online. Nonprofit organizations have consistent success if their online donation campaigns include:

• Branded donation process
• Give multiple donor amount options
• Show their goal progress
• Make it as simple as possible (3 clicks or less)
• Accept all credit and debit card types

So will you implement this donation button on your Facebook page or website? Check out below how each looks but either way be sure to direct your donors to the right place!

4. Social Media Tips

If you are going to join a “holiday” that was started solely based off of social media then you have to be sure that you are doing your part! Here are a few things that your social media channels should have prior, during, and after your campaign:

• Campaign #hashtag: Along with #GivingTuesday2017 you should have a specific and memorable hashtag for your campaign. Not only will this help with the tracking of your campaign but it will also get and keep your younger audience more engaged.
• Links: If you post a social media post without the link to your donation button what was even the point of posting?! Make sure that you include this in every post because this could be the difference in your organization making their goal.
• Catchy images and videos: There is a lot of compeititon when it comes to social media these days so make sure to have eye-catching visuals. If something is intriguing enough for someone to look at or watch then more than likely they will read the caption. However, don’t go overboard... Make sure to set brand standards prior to starting and stick to them!
• Thank you messages: Thanking is just as important as asking. Your posts thanking your members should come just as often as those that a reminding them to donate. Remember that without them, your organization could not function!

This may be the last step but it is possibly one of the most important in your whole campaign! You will have tons of new or existing donors and what’s better than making them into repeat donors or volunteers of your organization?