Once numbers are in, boards should analyze their contributions to Giving Tuesday campaigns

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.31213
• Date: 01 February 2021
• Published date: 01 February 2021

© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC • All rights reserved

View this newsletter online at wileyonlinelibrary.com • DOI: 10.1002/ban

Editor: Nicholas King

Supplement

Once numbers are in, boards should analyze

their contributions to Giving Tuesday campaigns

Final numbers are still being tabulated, but

initial estimates show that Giving Tuesday 2020

was a huge hit, with some $2.47 billion in dona-

tions made by U.S. donors during this increas-

ingly important annual giving event. That marks

a 25% increase over 2019 numbers. And that’s

not even counting the $503 million or so that was

raised online through Giving Tuesday Now, a spe-

cial campaign that took place in May to address

the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whether your individual organization sees this

level of support or not, experts say, it’s important

to analyze the data and see what aspects of your

Giving Tuesday campaign were effective and where

things could be improved. And a good starting

point on this journey is with the board.

As in many other fundraising efforts, board

members have taken on a multitude of roles in

Giving Tuesday, including:

• Spreading the word. Board members often

can leverage their social media channels to adver-

tise and spread the word about the organization

and its Giving Tuesday campaign. An analysis of

these efforts after the campaign has ended can look

at all kinds of raw data like the number of page

impressions, “likes” or “shares,” or comments. More

sophisticated analysis can even try to link specif‌ic

donors with where and when they f‌irst engaged

with a board member’s post, and break down which

types of posts—for example, those with infographics

or videos or plain text—had the greatest impact in

terms of dollars raised.

• Making introductions. Board members can

also easily leverage their connections on behalf

of the organization just by engaging them in dis-

cussions about the organization and its mission,

introducing them to leadership, asking them to visit

the website or contact someone for further infor-

mation or getting their go-ahead to forward their

contact info to fundraising staff for follow-up. An

evaluation of these efforts after Giving Tuesday is

pretty straightforward—board members can likely

tabulate the personal introductions they made dur-

ing the campaign, and staff can ferret out which of

those connections resulted in funds raised.

• Making personal appeals. Some board

members are comfortable making direct appeals to

their social connections—whether work colleagues,

family, friends or other aff‌iliations. If so, they and

their organization’s development staff should ex-

amine what approaches they used, see which ones

were most successful and identify what could be

improved on the next go-round.

• Making personal contributions. Finally,

board members should look at the f‌inancial con-

tributions they personally made to their organiza-

tions. Many nonprof‌its spell out very clearly that

boards are expected to contribute f‌inancially to

Giving Tuesday and other f‌lagship fundraising

campaigns. Other organizations don’t necessarily

require board donations, but “strongly encourage”

them nonetheless. Whether it’s required or not,

board members can benef‌it from knowing how

they compare to the giving levels of other board

members (anonymously, of course). Sometimes

simply knowing that they are not keeping up with

their peers is enough to spur more generosity and

engagement the following year. ■

February 2021 Vol. 37, No. 6