A Giving Tuesday Strategy for Any Company’s Bandwidth

While it may feel like you are stuck in the never-ending heat of summer, fall is right around the corner and the holidays will come knocking at any moment! As many seasoned professionals in our industry know, it is never too early to get ahead on all of your vacation planning, gift shopping, and of course, your end-of-year CSR campaigns. End-of-year giving campaigns require months of preparation, planning, and communication, starting with the global day of giving, Giving Tuesday, that kicks off the charitable season.

Traditionally, Giving Tuesday was founded on the opportunity to harness the spirit of giving felt during the holiday season and bring that into employee engagement programs around the world. Occurring on the Tuesday after a big weekend of spending (Black Friday, Small-Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday), Giving Tuesday brings the focus of the season back to what really matters, giving back and helping others.

Getting your employees engaged can be hard! That is why we are encouraging you to start considering and promoting your strategy now, especially when you are asking for your employees’ attention when their families are in town, Thanksgiving dinners have to be cooked, and Black Friday deals need to be scored.

To relieve the stress, I’m handing over some ideas for Giving Tuesday campaigns, graciously crafted by some of our clients. All you have to do is pick your level of difficulty, re-heat, and add a little of your own spice, and they are sure to catch the eyes of your employees!

Level: Easy Bake Oven

This Giving Tuesday strategy works for any and all CSR programs, whether this is your first CSR campaign and you are looking for a way to incorporate the international holiday, or if you’re a seasoned pro and just want an extra nudge to your strategy. Giving Tuesday is the perfect way to bring attention to your campaigns that you are already asking employees to engage with during the end of the year.

Since Giving Tuesday falls on December 3rd this year, it will be occurring either:

1) Right as you are wrapping up your yearly Giving Campaign. Maybe you started the campaign on September 1 and saw a ton of engagement early on. By the time October and maybe even November rolls around, you may not be seeing as many donations flowing in. Utilize the later date of Giving Tuesday and the notoriety of the holiday to extend your campaign a few extra weeks!

Providing your employees that extra time to get their last donations in before the campaign closes with all the added communication that surrounds the day is sure to spike your numbers right as you close!

2) Kicking off your yearly Giving Campaign. Many of our clients are holding off starting their regular campaign seasons until December 3rd, utilizing and building off of the excitement, publicity and communication efforts of Giving Tuesday. Although it is later in the season than normal to start a campaign, our clients know that the first day is the best day to get people on the platform and giving.

Level: MasterChef: Junior

I named this strategy for two reasons, 1) You’re probably not going to want to implement this strategy your first time running a Giving Campaign season, and 2) Although you know what you’re doing, you’re probably still going to have to ask for permission first.

Because of the later Giving Tuesday date, our clients utilizing this strategy to start their campaign earlier than normal and extend it until the end of the year, using Giving Tuesday as a major milestone and engagement burst opportunity in the middle of their campaign.

For example, we have a client that provides a matching gift program, offering a 50% match to all donations given. To bring awareness and excitement to Giving Tuesday, get employees engaged for the second half of their campaign and give back during the holiday season, they are promoting to employees that they will be upping the matching gift to 200% for six nonprofit partners that align with the focus areas of their corporate programs. Additionally, all other donations made on Giving Tuesday and throughout the end of the Giving Campaign will receive a 100% match.

Level: Bobby Flay

Now there is a reason this Giving Tuesday strategy has been prepared by one of the greats. Not only does it take communication, planning, and follow-through, but it also requires a CSR team that is eager to go farther than any campaign has gone before.

As I have mentioned above, there is quite a bit of excitement surrounding Giving Tuesday. Since celebrities, influencers and large corporations have taken an interest in the day, every year seems to be bigger, better and trying to top the last.

Our clients are no different, implementing brand new technology campaigns within their platforms to roll out December 3rd. With the help of Text to Engage, our clients will be providing their employees with a brand-new method of engagement that is easy to use and in the moment.

The CSR Team will provide a campaign keyword and shortcode, that once texted, first verifies first-time use employees and then sends them directly to the Giving Tuesday donation page. This creates an intuitive and exciting way for employees to quickly make a difference at your organization, while the CSR team gets to engage as many people as possible by blasting a quick, two-step texting initiative company-wide.

Regardless of what level Giving Tuesday strategy, you implement this season, if you explain the importance of the holiday, show how your employees can engage in a company-wide effort, and communicate why your corporation values giving back, your campaign will be successful. Your team is eager to be a part of something more and providing a culture and community that cares, loves, and contributes for one another on Giving Tuesday and throughout the Season of Giving will reap many rewards for your program.