Communications Professionals Talk About Their #GivingTuesday Campaigns

What strategies have you found effective in #GivingTuesday campaigns?

• “We have only ever done an e-blast coupled with social media posts.  It didn't generate a lot of income, but was still seemingly worth it.” - Meira Neggaz, Executive Director at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)
   
• “Focusing on a campaign that can resonate with people, that has an untouched need, and that can prove good use of the funds. For example, a successful campaign I ran for women hygiene kits for Syrian women in Greece, I broke down each donation level by how many women would benefit, so people could get a tangible number.” - Jinan Shbat, former Event Coordinator at Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), currently a National Events and Outreach Manager at the Council on American Islamic Relations 
   
• “Multiple posts that also correspond to email campaigns.” - Ruwa Romman, Communications Director at the Council on American Islamic Relations Georgia (CAIR ATL)

Is one platform more successful than another for you? 

• “We have more followers on social media, so it reaches more people. Although our open rates generally are higher or around industry standards, so e-blasts also work for us generally.” - Meira Neggaz, ISPU
   
• “I’ve used both Launchgood and Pious Projects. I like Launchgood because it gives the donor the option to cover the credit card processing fee for their donation, so your gross is higher.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS 
   
• “We’re planning one email per state and then some social media outreach; we expect emails to be the biggest driver.” - Jesse Littlewood, Digital Director at Common Cause

How far in advance do you make your content?

• “A week or so. Usually it is just an e-blast and social media posts, so about a week or two is good.” - Meira Neggaz, ISPU
   
• “We usually start preparing and coming up with ideas 2 months prior, so the theme is relevant to something people can remember happening recently.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS
   
• “I’m creating the content now to schedule for the course of two weeks.” - Ruwa Romman, CAIR ATL
   
• “One week.” - Jesse Littlewood, Common Cause 

What worked? What didn't?

• “Keeping the campaign to one centralized need, versus many needs. It needs to be a short, concise description, and easy for donors to relate to.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS 
   
• “Contacting people directly works very well.” - Ruwa Romman, CAIR ATL

How many years have you done it and did you raise more each year?

• “I did #GivingTuesday campaigns for 4 years; each year we focused on a different need. We always raised sufficient funds because of the strategy and because we did not oversaturate the market with the same campaigns as other organizations.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS

What was the average gift size--a few big donations, lots of little ones?

• “Most were small, less than $100. To me, quantity is important- the $5 donation will add up. And then you can add all those people to your contact list and have a wider reach.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS
   
• “We got a few big ones but mostly a ton of small ones.” - Ruwa Romman, CAIR ATL
   

Did your #GivingTuesday donors end up being people already on your list or did it bring new people to the cause?

• “Anyone who donated was either already a donor, or someone on our email list.” - Meira Neggaz, ISPU
   
• “We added a lot of new people during the campaigns. This is because our donor base shared it with their networks who we would usually never reach.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS
   
• “I expect to get donors off our current list (either new donors or existing donors making another gift).” - Jesse Littlewood, Common Cause

Any influencer strategy in getting some big names to publicly give? 

• “We used community celebrities to post their donation and encourage others to donate. Also, members in high-profile positions in the community.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS

Did you ask all of your members to post that they gave and ask their friends to join them?

• "We asked our staff and board to post on their social media.” - Meira Neggaz, ISPU
   
• “Yes, we encouraged social media sharing a lot, as it is an easy and effective way to have people share the campaign with the click of a button.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS
   
• “We asked friends to share.” - Ruwa Romman, CAIR ATL 

How much money did you raise, and was it worth the time and effort?

• “Very, very little. We still think it was worth it because #GivingTuesday is a good touch point with our donors and supporters and can help galvanize especially grassroots donors to give. I think it also takes time to get your donors accustomed to giving in this way - because we have only done it once, our donors were not used to that being a vehicle/point for giving. I hope that the more we do it, the more people will respond.” - Meira Neggaz, ISPU
   
• “The hygiene kit campaign was over 3 days, and we raised $15,000. Initial goal was $5000.” - Jinan Shbat, SAMS
   
• “We raised 10K which was matched by a donor, so definitely worth it since it doesn’t actually require anything outside of time.” - Ruwa Romman, CAIR ATL

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