Launching a Successful Giving Tuesday Campaign with Skilled Volunteers

Since its founding in 2012 by the 92^nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, Giving Tuesday has grown into a global movement. It’s a day fueled by activism, collaboration, and generosity that has become a marquee fundraising opportunity for nonprofits around the world.

Aside from acting as a kick-off for holiday giving campaigns, Giving Tuesday also offers a unique opportunity to inspire audiences and build communities while raising awareness of nonprofit missions. But planning and executing an effective Giving Tuesday campaign can be daunting, especially for nonprofits without a marketing budget.

That’s why Taproot teamed up with Giving Tuesday to show nonprofits just how successful a campaign can be with support from skilled volunteers. We’ve recorded that webinar and packaged the main points together for you in this blog.

Maximizing your Giving Tuesday campaign

In 2017 alone, Giving Tuesday saw nonprofits taking in over $274 million in gifts, making it the largest single day of giving that year. With the growth of the movement, it’s important for nonprofits to get creative in their fundraising tactics to cut through the noise.

The experts at Giving Tuesday recommend using the day to collaborate with neighbors in your community, run fun experiments on donor attraction, and getting innovative with videos, graphics, and messaging to maximize your voice. Planning early and setting realistic goals are important for a successful campaign so be sure to join Giving Tuesday’s community for all the latest tools, stats, and inspiration pieces.

So how can skilled volunteers support my Giving Tuesday campaign?

Holiday giving campaigns–Giving Tuesday included–can be a huge lift for nonprofits when their marketing expertise and budget are already stretched thin. The good news is that pro bono support can help you:

• Find the right expertise. Even your awesome team members can’t be experts at everything, so tapping into pro bono for the skills you might not have in-house, like a graphic designer, could complement existing talent.
• Make new friends—good friends. Create lasting supporters for your organization by working with skilled volunteers on a deep level.
• Do more with less. By freeing up staff to focus on other tasks, you can accomplish more while staying on budget.

Make a list of Giving Tuesday specific tasks such as social media content development, designing fresh graphics, optimizing your SEO, and email marketing efforts. Discreet project requests like these are a perfect fit for skilled volunteers.

Is there a way to know if my project is a good fit for pro bono?

Not every project is a good candidate for pro bono, but that’s okay. Make sure that you run your project through Taproot’s four tests for great pro bono before diving in:

• Scope. How well defined is the project? Pro bono projects are most successful when the project outline is clear. This will help you figure out the expertise you need to find in a skilled volunteer and will help the skilled volunteer know exactly what they’re working towards.
• Knowledge Transfer. Will your organization be able to provide your skilled volunteer with all the information they need to complete the project? Be sure to consider factors like data privacy and confidentiality.
• Board and Staff Readiness. Does this project have organizational buy-in? Make sure that the relevant team members who need to sign-off on your project are on board with using pro bono.
• Urgency. Is this an urgent and dire need? In general, pro bono projects are completed at a slower pace than a paid consultant engagement. So if you need something done with an inflexible, short timeline, pro bono may not be the best option.

Giving Tuesday falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving so you have a firm deadline to meet. Since we know pro bono projects are completed on an extended timeline, we recommend beginning your campaign planning process in August, recruiting your pro bono volunteers in September, with work on your projects wrapping up in October. That way your organization will be fully prepared to execute a great Giving Tuesday campaign with plenty of time to spare!

My project passed the four tests and I’m ready to go! Where can I recruit skilled volunteers?

Taproot Plus is a free online platform where 50,000+ skilled volunteers with expertise in areas like marketing, graphic design, and videography are looking for opportunities to help causes like yours. All you have to do is post your pro bono request on Taproot Plus. Once projects are reviewed by Taproot staff, we’ll help find you awesome skilled volunteer applicants, and connect you and the candidate for an interview. Once you’ve found the right professional for your project, we supply you with resources to manage the project and have staff on-hand to support you and your volunteer along the way.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to our help desk if you hit a bump along the way! Taproot staff members are always available to offer platform support, brainstorm project ideas with you, and offer consultations at help@taprootplus.org.

Ready to get started? Request pro bono support for your Giving Tuesday campaign now.