Giving Tuesday … Or Was It Monday?
More often, Roger is the curmudgeon at The Agitator editors’ meetings, but I guess today the distinction falls to me.
Roger called my attention to this notice that on the inaugural ‘#Giving Tuesday‘ (how did I miss this on my calendar?), online contributions (at least those processed by Blackbaud) were up 53% over the same day last year.
I’m told by a reliable authority that would translate to 16,597% up from the first Tuesday an online contribution was ever made back in 2001.
Sorry. ‘#Giving Tuesday’?
Why not celebrate ‘Let’s Get Out of Bed Wednesday’? [There is an official ‘Sleep-In Day’ … it’s October 29, according to Wikipedia.] Or maybe ‘Take a Deep Breath Thursday’? Or for broader appeal … ‘Upgrade Your Monthly Pledge Friday’?
Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing year-over-year fundraising figures. But now, year-over-year ‘#Giving Tuesday’? Did Hallmark Greeting Cards come up with this? Humbug.
Besides, everyone knows that for this commemoration to have any analytical or historical significance whatsoever, it would need to be based on ‘Giving Monday‘.
Tom
P.S. Jeff Brooks offers a calmer critique here. But Jeff, I just can’t take the whole thing that seriously.
P.P.S. I’m on a roll now. I think we need to re-assess ALL of our commemoration days and establish some clear priorities. Clean out the commemoration clutter. Strip it down to only 365 significant events to commemorate … one per day.
For example, here are several credible alternatives for 27 November, the inaugural ‘#Giving Day’:
1910: New York’s Pennsylvania Station opened.
1973: The Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who had resigned.
2009: Golfer Tiger Woods crashed his SUV outside his Florida mansion, sparking widespread attention to reports of marital infidelity.
Tough choices!
6 responses to “Giving Tuesday … Or Was It Monday?”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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#TigerTuesday. You can’t beat alliteration.
How about “Tom’s Rain On My Parade” Day? Or “Agitated Curmudgeon Day”? Or “If It Involves A Hashtag It Must Be Bad Day”?
Hehehe, Jay. Funny!
Well, if we must have Giving Tuesday to get more donations, so be it. I’m willing to take the gifts however I can get them. We toyed around with it at the last minute this year. Let’s see if these new donors translate into long-term donors. Of course this gimmick didn’t cost me anything more than a hour, so I was willing to try.
We’ve had a lot of success with year end giving through our local Willamette Week Give!Guide: http://giveguide.oaktree.com/Welcome.aspx They encourage people under 35 to make gifts to local nonprofits. Very cool! I’ve been working hard the last couple years to convert these donors to permanent donors. Time will tell. Most of the donors through this tool are new. Few of our existing donors give this way, but we have reconnected with lost donors, so happy about that.
I’m always willing to try something new as long as it isn’t expensive. HA! Oh, and I’m not giving up my year-end appeal via postal mail to my existing base, of course. We do send it via email to those who can’t stand paper mail, but the response rate is lower than the paper mail. No surprise there.
Tom, I think you and Jeff got it wrong this time. I love #GivingTuesday. It’s a perfect way for the good souls in our society to take an action to express their disgust with Black Friday and all the excess of the holiday season.
And if it kicks off some year end giving a bit earlier, I say, “Amen”. At Impact, we jumped right on board with this new tradition. Giving every employee the chance to select a charity for the company to make a donation to. A great morale booster for folks who work hard raising money all year.
Giving feels good every day of the year and if we the marketers have found a way to spur giving on one day, I say they deserve a raise!
Well, I’m a little behind so I’m not sure which celebration is today but I ask that you expand your vision to include the month long observances. There are plenty of those. Phil
I just like that “Giving Tuesday” is AFTER Gray Thursday, AFTER Black Friday……(are Saturday and Sunday designated?), and AFTER Cyber Monday. Where are our priorities? Oh wait………there is that Thanksgiving thing that gets squashed out by Halloween and Christmas. Poor turkeys don’t even get that much attention anymore.
I’ve been in the non-profit biz, maybe with my head down too much into my own work, for over 10 years and I never remember hearing about Giving Tuesday until this year. What is that all about?