With Giving Tuesday ( November 30) on your near-term planning horizon I’m hoping you’ll choose to think once, twice and even thrice before dipping into the Giving Tuesday Sea of Sameness by offering up one more of the hundreds of matching gift offers that will be indiscriminately dumped on donors.

For starters I recommend you carefully read Laurence Pagnoni’s thoughtful and challenging post Giving Tuesday Vs. Donor Advised Funds.

Laurence is an out-of-the box thinker and provocateur.  The Agitator noted this when we reviewed his book Fundraising 401: Masterclasses in Nonprofit Fundraising That Would Make Peter Drucker Proud.  Frankly, it’s a refreshing treat for thinking about change –and we all sure need to be thinking about change.

Laurence doesn’t disappoint when it comes to Giving Tuesday. Right up front he admits to an annual struggle  when it comes to planning for it.

This year he’s focused on what he calls the “gargantuan untapped revenue “ that can be accessed from supporters with Donor Advised Funds (DAFs).  He wonders:  Why should anyone spend resources and put such a heavy focus on Giving Tuesday that last year raised a total of $800 million  when just harvesting 1% of the $140 billion available in DAFs today would produce $1.6 billion?

Good question.

Here’s a summary of Laurence’s thinking and some very worthwhile and practical advice no matter how you ultimately answer the question.

• Your Decision. “Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of Giving Tuesday, but only when it’s a lucrative tactic among your other fundraising approaches. For many nonprofits, the means does not justify the ends.

“You should consider skipping GT, especially if you have other parts of your year-end giving program designed and ready to launch, and most especially if your social media platforms are not what they could be. I parse out the reasons for and against here.

• Even if you’re all in on Giving Tuesday (GT) here’s some first-rate advice on DAFs. Advice that deserves your attention.

As Laurence notes, “I suspect many of us gravitate to GT because it’s easier to implement.

Finding DAFs requires more effort. How do we find out who has a DAF? How do we research who has DAFs when there’s no public information about them?

Here are 3 Steps Laurence Recommends You Take to Secure DAF funds.

1. Install the DAF Widget at Your Website

“The DAF Direct Widget is the place to start.  This widget plugs into three of the largest DAF managers: Fidelity, Schwab, and Bank of New York. These providers account for a large chunk of DAF money and their minimums make for great prospects.  When you have the widget on your site or donation page, not only does it take someone to their account, but it is also restricted so that person can give only to you.

“You can download the Widget here. (You can also check out this excellent FAQ). It costs nothing. All you’ll need is your nonprofit’s 501c(3) Tax ID number.

2. Start Surveying Your Donors

“Are you surveying your donors and asking them how they prefer to make their contributions? That’s a good way to find out if they have a DAF. On your list of boxes to check about how they want to give, include a check box for DAFs. You can find a sample donor survey here.

3. Get Serious About Prospect Research

“I am often impressed with how much development officers know about their donors. But the fact is a lot of information about a donor’s capacity to give is hidden. Advanced donor research can surface that crucial information for you and determine their propensity to give.

“The hidden information is especially relevant when you are seeking transformational gifts — gifts that cover multiple years, are made in exchange for naming opportunities, and grow your reserves.

“The advanced research I am talking about allows you to have a more informed conversation with your donors. While you need deep research in order to close on the highest gifts possible, getting that data is time consuming and complicated.

“Worse, data vendors usually overwhelm you with more information than is actionable.

“In the case of one LAPA client, their initial reservations evaporated after we completed our research. We found 373 hidden major donor prospects just within her own donor database—and 47 of them were donor advised fund holders! At the end of the research process actionable engagement plans were appended directly to their donor base, and the donor cultivation steps were scheduled in her calendar. Now, that nonprofit is a believer.

“Oh, I almost forgot! We found an additional 3,500 new value-aligned donors that were then added to their donor pipeline. Finding new donors is the holy grail of fundraising. Advanced Prospect Research produces the highest quality donor data at several levels. I explain more here in this white paper about advanced donor research.”

On the One Hand This…On the Other That

Frankly, my decision would be to do both.  The actions Laurence recommends, even if I can’t complete them all by November 30, will help  supercharge Giving Tuesday.

In short, consider using Giving Tuesday as a driving deadline to get your DAF message and widgets in place… then use as much of Laurence’s additional advice as you can not only for that day, but for all the weeks and months that follow.

Regardless how you come down on the decision about how to handle Giving Tuesday, Laurence’s post raises the right questions.  And, as an even bigger bonus it offers you practical, actionable advice on digging into the immense potential of Donor Advised Funds.

As gratitude  for all these goodies we’re sending Laurence an Agitator Raise and urging you to read his entire post here.

What are you doing for Giving Tuesday?

Roger