How to Write a Giving Tuesday Donation Email

Every nonprofit knows that Giving Tuesday is a GREAT opportunity to gather funds for your organization. Every nonprofit also knows that Giving Tuesday is the day their mailing list will be inundated with other Giving Tuesday requests!

That means you need to figure out a strategy to stand out. This can only be done with a solid plan going into Giving Tuesday.

You have many options to garner donations and reach out to your community:

1. Facebook – This can be Facebook posts, ads or group postings.
2. Email – Email is the source of one-third of all online giving. Don’t count this source out!
3. Phone calls – Calling your members or contacts is a great way to get someone 1:1 and request a donation.

Your Giving Tuesday Strategy

1. Figure out the channels you will use, and figure out what you need.

For Facebook, you need an image or even a page or blog post dedicated to your fundraising campaign.

For an email, you need great text, an image, and a link to send the reader to if they want to donate.

Phone calls require you have some great talking points, statistics of how you spent money in the previous year or what programs you’ve done in the past year. Don’t forget to include contact information as well!

2. Create a great fundraising page on your website.

This can be as simple as a basic page with a donation form that includes contact information and a payment processing widget. You can also take advantage of Facebook’s “donate” button and send people to your Facebook page.

3. Get your “content” ready.

This includes images you need, the content of your webpage, email texts and talking points for phone calls.

Below are a few great email templates to get you started. Even if you make phone calls, following up via email will help increase your donations.

These email templates can help you reach your goals this Giving Tuesday!

General Giving Tuesday Template Email

This is a great template for any purpose. It includes some statistics, and an easy to find “Donate” button to make your call to action obvious and grab the reader’s attention.

This template is great for your entire mailing list as it’s very general!

More Personal Giving Request Template

If you use the email tools that come with your donor or membership management software, consider segmenting your users to personalize the text to each recipient.

For example, you can send an email like the one below, to everyone who has donated to you before, and note how much they’ve given in the past.

Personalizing emails are always a great way to increase your open rates and the reminder they’ve given in the past will help to encourage them to give again.

Giving statistics of how they money was used, how many people were helped or what you were able to accomplish, makes the message and the donation less about money and more about what that money does!

Reminder to Donate Email

It’s a good idea to follow up after you’ve sent an initial email with a reminder. It can be short and sweet since they’ve already received a message from you.

While you will likely get most of your clicks and response from your initial email, studies show that 2nd and 3rd follow ups can produce some great results too! Don’t skip this step!

DAY OF GIVING TUESDAY EMAIL BLAST TEMPLATE

The last email you should send is ON Giving Tuesday itself. This will be a highly competitive day in everyone’s inbox, so the 2 previous emails you’ve sent should help your Giving Tuesday email stand out.

Try a statistic you haven’t used before. In this example, you can show specific gift amounts and what that will buy. You can use this type of data in any email.

Giving Tuesday Email Plan

1. Plan to send the first long email 2-3 weeks before Giving Tuesday.

2. The follow-up email should come 1-3 days before.

3. The final email should send ON Giving Tuesday!

Some more email templates you can incorporate!

Depending on your ability to segment your database and how many emails you want to send, it’s a great idea to send a 2nd email on Giving Tuesday with a “Goal” update as another way to encourage those who haven’t donated yet, to give.

This makes for a great Facebook post as well!

You can simply say:

Conclusion: Having a plan matters!

Creating a Giving Tuesday communication strategy is crucial to the success of your Giving Tuesday campaign and the amount of donations you’ll receive.

Preparing yourself with email templates, images and other campaigns like social media, paper letters and phone calls can go a long way in meeting your fundraising goals and get your new year started off in the black!

And don’t forget to say thank you to those who’ve donated!