#GivingTuesday Campaign Inspiration For Small Budgets

Posted by Ben Crook on 26 October 2017

#GivingTuesdayis the international day of giving, with over five million people across the world raising awareness for a charity of their choosing. Falling on Tuesday 28th November, people all over the globe will give their money, their time, or use their voice to help make a positive impact on the world.

Kim Roberts, Senior Campaigns Officer and #GivingTuesday Project Lead at the Charities Aid Foundation, has given us the inside scoop on how to run a successful campaign, even when operating on a tight budget.

#GivingTuesday really does not have to cost you a lot of money. In fact, because the campaign is so new and only in its 6^th year globally, ‘found that lots of organisations start off small with low budget campaigns to see how they get on. Because of its diverse nature, there are limitless opportunities and ways to get involved. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking

Thank your supporters

Sometimes just a thank you to your supporters either by phone, email, or in person can go a long way. It wont cost you a thing, except a little bit of time, but the feeling they’ll get from being appreciated is invaluable and #GivingTuesday is a fantastic platform for this!

Marie Curie

Marie Curie do the same thing every year: members of their staff spend 30 minutes writing thank you cards to donors, volunteers, and supporters. Its a lovely thing for staff to do and a nice thing for supporters to receive. They don’t ask for anything, they just want to say thanks! As a result, they actually see an uplift in donations every year as a direct result of this campaign. For every 15 minutes a staff member spends writing they raise enough money to pay for an additional hour of nursing care!

Share interesting content across social media

This can be really easy just use your smartphone to film your team doing the wonderful work you do each and every day and then share it on your channels. Let people see what really goes on behind the scenes. Your supporters will enjoy it and your staff will love it too!

Trusty old bucket collections

Some of our best fundraising examples are of people getting out and jangling those buckets. You may well need to get a permit depending on where you’re going, but all you need is a bucket and a person to hold it. You can download the #GivingTuesday branding from their website and combine it with your own. Wrap up warm and get out there!

Some of the worlds biggest brands and celebrities endorse #GivingTuesday and by getting involved you’ll be joining them in advertising a day of good deeds. Kim has given us examples of hugely successful #GivingTuesday campaigns from some of the biggest names in the fundraising industry.

There are so many, far too many to list! But we’ve seen a real array of successful campaigns in the past, all doing something differently in a new and innovative way. Some of the best are:

Hickory

Hickory are a catering company based in Scotland. For the past two years they’ve teamed up with a local venue to offer a free lunch on #GivingTuesday for local residents and last year over 300 people got a free lunch. They run it because as a business, they feel like it’s important to give back to the local area, and that’s exactly what #GivingTuesday is all about!

Milton Keynes Community Foundation

Milton Keynes Community Foundation have developed something called the #GivingTuesday challenge cup. Every year they work with several businesses from the local area who compete against one another in several sporting activities including trampolining, skiing and cycling. They also raise money as part of their challenge and last year the participants raised more than 10,000 which went to MK Community Foundations surviving winter appeal.

#GivingTuesday is fast approaching but we hope with the ideas above, you feel inspired and ready to get started!

Read our tips on how to run a successful campaign and we’ve even created a checklist of all the different elements you need to implement in order to make your campaign a success!

Ben Crook

Chief Operating Officer

Ben is at the forefront of every project in Givergy, listing and actioning constant improvements across the business. With over a decade of experience in the charity and events sector he brings a deep understanding of what the fundraising industry needs to operate effectively and efficiently.