Giving Day Guide: Establish Your Goals

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2" css=".vc_custom_1547579721013{padding-right: 15px !important;}" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_single_image image="9101" img_size="330x525" alignment="center" style="vc_box_rounded" css_animation="flipInY"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2" css=".vc_custom_1545258954619{padding-left: 15px !important;}"][vc_column_text]How do you define a successful Giving Day?  The overall number of supporters? First-time donors? Simply having an online presence this year? Social Followers? Dollars raised? Success is defined differently depending on your history, bandwidth, and vision. It’s important to be clear on your specific goals for #GivingTuesday so all the hard work and preparation is moving in the right direction! If you’re looking for ideas about which goals to set this year, we lay out a structure to evaluate some of the measurements below: Donation…

Giving Day Guide: Assemble Your Team

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2" css=".vc_custom_1545258970035{padding-right: 15px !important;}"][vc_single_image image="9102" img_size="330x525" alignment="center" style="vc_box_rounded" css_animation="flipInY"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2" css=".vc_custom_1545258954619{padding-left: 15px !important;}"][vc_column_text]To plant some initial seeds, one key element you can start thinking about now is how to Assemble Your Team. Your team will champion your vision and execute on the plan to ensure your Giving Tuesday success! In this guide we cover how to: Identify the roles you need Assign people to specific roles Confirm key dates for everyone’s planning purposes Inspire your team with a brand reveal that upholds the mission This is the first part in an eight-part series on creating an effective Giving Tuesday campaign![/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTVCZ3Jhdml0eWZvcm0lMjBpZCUzRCUyMjIzJTIyJTIwdGl0bGUlM0QlMjJmYWxzZSUyMiUyMGRlc2NyaXB0aW9uJTNEJTIydHJ1ZSUyMiU1RA==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]

#GivingTuesday: How to Measure Impact

#GivingTuesday is an annual occurrence that unleashes global giving. Nonprofits gear up every year by creating platforms for success and maintain their work long after their event in order to keep donors invested in the cause. It’s time to use the power of Giving Day to support your initiatives. Learn how to measure impact of your fundraising efforts below. Where do we start? You Can’t Do This Alone  First, assemble the team you believe can plan thoughtfully and collaborate with one another to achieve a common goal of success. This project demands the courage to undertake heightened challenges, storytelling, and…

Rev Up Your Rivalry Fundraising Results

Rivalries — a tale as old as time. From the early competition between forming nation-states to international sports competitions to the brand decisions we make every day at the supermarket, rivalries are time-honored traditions that span across communities and cultures. Is rivalry fundraising an option for you? In the fundraising world, the opportunity to leverage rivalries has never been easier with the emergence of digital technologies that allow organizations to seamlessly spin-up targeted pages. These pages act as portals to capture engagement and record head-to-head fundraising results that add another angle to longstanding events. In this article, we explore the fundraising psychology behind rivalries as well…

Measuring Fundraising Campaign Success

How should you measure fundraising campaign success? In the world of fundraising, our efforts can often times feel like trial and error. That’s why the most critical element of success is learning from the past. Optimizing your efforts will increase results and efficiency overall. This means analyzing your tactics after each campaign to determine what produced results and how you can duplicate that effort. Or, similarly, pinpointing actions that didn’t work or need to be tweaked so you can avoid or refine those strategies on your next go-round. Measuring success can be especially useful when looking at two successive campaigns…

How to Gamify Your Annual Giving Initiatives

gamify[gey-muh-fahy] verb (used with object), gamified, gamifying.1. to turn (an activity or task) into a game or something resembling a game: Let’s start with rule number 1: fundraising doesn’t have to be boring. There are far too many things in life that are taken too seriously. And while you should speak to the cause you’re fundraising for with sincerity, that doesn’t exclude playfulness! Adding a gamelike, and even a competitive, element to how you manage donor motivations can improve engagement and boost gift size. After all, who doesn’t love a little healthy competition for a good cause? When thinking of…

A variety of marketing channels for fundraising

How to Take an Omnichannel Approach to Your Online Fundraising

Online community engagement has caused many fundraisers to question the long-term impact on “the ways of old” such as direct mail, events, phone, and volunteers/ambassadors. Will it cause attrition? How do we continue to reach a generational range? The reality is these channels are needed more than ever today and will only become more relevant as online giving evolves. The real question that we should ask is how we can leverage these channels in a digital-first strategy? “Digital-first” is just the acknowledgment that individuals will continue to transition their transactions online, but that awareness and information gathering are still influenced…

How to Tell an Ongoing Story for Online Fundraising

Your Giving Day is complete and was a huge success! The hard work dedicated by you and your team has paid off, but it isn’t over. One of the main challenges fundraisers face is donor retention. Developing a gratitude program that proceeds your giving event should be a priority in your efforts to keep your donors engaged. Communication with gift-givers should extend farther than just the initial event, especially online; these types of digital events require an ongoing story to increase your ROI. Creating a story around a digital event like a Crowdfunding story or Giving Day initiative will accomplish…

Response Round-Up: How do you collect fundraising ideas from your community?

SHANNON PESTKA has been managing accounts in various industries for 14 years.  Her focus over the last 6 years has been on different facets of higher ed. Currently, she onboards, trains, and coaches development offices at Community Funded. One of the best ways to find ideas is to start talking with people!  If you have something like an Office of Student Involvement, this group either has a pulse on funding needs or can help you reach out to the various clubs, student organizations, Greek life groups, etc on campus to make sure they’re aware that you can be contacted with ideas. This office…

Cheatsheet for Getting Buy-In from Key Online Giving Stakeholders

Integrating online giving initiatives on your campus like giving days and crowdfunding begins from within. To this end, it's critical to get buy-in from the internal stakeholders that will play a role in your long-term success. The goals of stakeholder buy-in are: Building awareness and excitement for the initiativeForming an implementation and launch teamDeveloping an implementation planLocating your first storytelling teamsPromoting the initiative and any linked individual stories ahead of the public launch As a general rule of thumb, there are three groups who will help you lay the foundation for success Leadership The tip of the spear is your…

The 4 Metrics You Should Be Tracking On Your Giving Site

While there is a lot of focus on metrics surrounding driving contacts to a giving event page, what many fundraisers lose sight of is the importance of learning from donor behaviors once they arrive. This is especially true as nonprofits continue to diversify their marketing channels to include social, email, phone, direct mail, etc. Tracking the ROI of your messaging relative to the behaviors of visitor segments is essential to maximizing the impact you have on your end results. Whether you're using tools like Google Analytics or the reporting dashboard on giving day technology like ours, here are the five most important metrics…

Response Round-Up: What’s your strategy for creating a giving event calendar for the year?

McCabe Callahan began Community Funded in 2011 out of his passion to provide a platform for communities to support the things they care about. Community Funded works with fundraising departments of all sizes and levels of sophistication to build sustainable digital fundraising ecosystems. Regardless of the fiscal year, your annual strategy should kick-off with your primary giving day. The objective of this event is to drive as many new and existing supporters to your site to passionately self-select their affinities from a host of diverse options; all of which convey the magnitude of the impact your organization is making. For the majority of…

Katie Haystead

Katie Haystead

Senior Vice President, Partnerships

With over a decade of experience working with K12 schools and higher education institutions’ fundraising efforts, Katie Haystead now oversees the partnerships team at Community Funded. Her passion for partner success and satisfaction aligns with Community Funded’s priorities and Katie’s unique background is well suited to manage the day to day operations of our partnerships team as well as new market acquisition.

Prior to joining the team at Community Funded, Katie served many roles within the Fundraising Division at Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Her experience ranges from working onsite and remotely with clients executing phonathon programs, developing annual giving strategies, onsite consultations and also developing multichannel strategies allowing for strong synergy between annual giving channels and creating strong major and planned gift pipelines.

Katie is based in Metro Detroit and is a graduate of Central Michigan University, where she worked for the phonathon for 3 years while working towards her History Major.

×
Kim Jennings

Kim Jennings

Senior Generosity Strategist, Generis

Kim Jennings, CFRE is a skilled fundraising leader who believes in the power of Christian education to raise up thoughtful, strong, committed leaders who can make our world a better place for all.

×
Kim Jennings

Todd Turner

Director of Digital Strategies, Generis

In addition to his 11 years overseeing Chuck Swindoll’s Insight Living Ministries communications department, Todd Turner has worked as a digital strategist for faith based organizations across the globe..

×
Kim Jennings

Jennifer Perrow

Senior Generosity Strategist, Generis

Jennifer is a skilled fundraising and communications professional who helps ministries articulate vision, communicate mission, and raise abundant funds to advance Kingdom priorities.

×