Beyond the Giving Day: Turning One Day of Generosity into Year-Round Impact

Steffanie Brown

Giving days, such as GivingTuesday or other designated dates, have become popular fundraising programs. Whether the giving day is an elaborate occasion with different kinds of programming or gamification, or whether it is simply communications via e-mail and social media, a giving day can stir up enthusiasm among donors and prospects and raise awareness of an organization’s mission. 

Once the giving day itself is over, there is still a lot of work to be done. In fact, what happens after the giving day is more important than the day itself! Here are some steps to take after the festivities are over to keep the fundraising momentum going in the weeks and months to follow. 

Send gift acknowledgments promptly 

After the giving day, it is important to send out gift acknowledgments promptly. If your organization has an automated acknowledgment process, this will shorten the time between gift date and acknowledgment date. If the process is not automated, think about ways to save time and distribute the work involved in handling a high volume of acknowledgment letters. Can different individuals sign letters? Can other team members be involved in getting the letters processed for mailing?  

In addition to the standard gift acknowledgment, this is also a great opportunity for gift officers to reach out to the donors in their portfolios with a personalized “thank you.” If the gift was focused on a particular area (such as an academic unit or sport for schools, or particular program areas for other organizations), this would also be a good time for the gift officers to ask donors about their engagement with that particular focus area and share any applicable news. 

Prospecting after a giving day 

Once the donations have been processed and the acknowledgments have been sent out, it’s time to do some prospecting. This can be done by focusing on two different groups: existing donors and new donors. 

For existing donors, notice anyone whose giving day gift was larger than their typical giving; this could indicate increased giving potential. Also, look for any individuals who made larger gifts but are not currently assigned to gift officers, and determine if they should be in a portfolio. For example, an organization that I previously worked at had a major gift level of $10,000, but only a small number of donors typically gave over $1,000; any donor who made a giving day gift of $500 or more was highlighted and evaluated for possible assignment to a gift officer. 

For new donors, in addition to noticing those individuals with larger gifts, it is also helpful to do a wealth screening. If you have unused group screens in ResearchPoint™, this would be a great time to use them! It is a good idea to screen all new donors if possible, given time and resources, as a new $50 donor could have great wealth and philanthropic potential that isn’t immediately obvious from the gift size. If there is not enough bandwidth to screen all the new donors, start with the largest donors first and screen as many as possible. 

Notice giving patterns 

A third step to take after a giving day is to notice any patterns that emerged from the day’s donations. If there were different funding areas where donors could focus their giving, did certain areas get a larger number of gifts? Did certain areas have a larger average gift size? If so, what factors may have led to this (greater number of individuals with affinity to those areas, more prominent promotion, etc.)? 

Some organizations have giving day “ambassadors,” individuals who are charged with spreading awareness of the giving day via social media, outreach to peers, and other methods of communication. If you used giving day ambassadors, were some ambassadors more successful than others in facilitating donations? If so, are there techniques that can be learned from these individuals? This is also a good time to recognize ambassadors and thank them for their contributions. 

In closing, the true impact of a giving day extends well beyond the event itself. By promptly acknowledging gifts, thoughtfully engaging both new and existing donors, and analyzing giving patterns, organizations can build lasting relationships and sustain fundraising momentum to strengthen the foundation for future success.