4 Last Minute Online Fundraising Strategies for #GivingTuesday

#GivingTuesday is less than a week away and it's promising to be the biggest year yet for this global day of giving back. But what if you didn't have time to organize a major #GivingTuesday campaign this year? Heck, what if you didn't have time to even think about #GivingTuesday? Don't worry! Here are some last-minute, sure-fire ways to increase donor engagement and online donations on #GivingTuesday.

Social Media is Your Friend

Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, oh my! If you haven't had time to create a dedicated #GivingTuesday plan, utlizing social media is a relatively quick and easy way to generate buzz and online donations for your organization. It's a great way to focus on new donor engagement while also rallying existing supports to pull in their friends by donating themselves. Just by making a few updates to your profile and implementing a few key posting strategies, you can create a surprisingingly effective social media campaign on #GivingTuesday. Here are a few tricks of the trade:

• Change your profile picture. Make it a powerful photo illustrating the work you do or use one of the many great #GivingTuesday images to let people know you're part of the movement.
• Use the official hashtag. Anything you post on your social media campaign should include the #GivingTuesday label - it's not just for Twitter anymore!
• Post videos. Short, original videos are a great thing to share, especially when they have a call to action linking your followers to an online donation page!
• Make your ask real. Bring life to your campaign with personal stories and hard-hitting facts to encourage followers to become donors by making the potential impact of online donations clear.
• Start a conversation. Social media is one of the best places to start a two-way conversation with your followers and increase donor engagement. Encourage your supporters to post about their #GivingTuesday experience and make sure you monitor your socials all day so you don't miss any chances to respond, retweet and engage your followers.

YouTube is Your Friend

Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet? It's true! Combine that with the increasing performance, quality and accessibility of our SmartPhones, and there has never been a better time get to know this powerful video sharing site. Film and post quick videos throughout the day and remember - the most ridiculous videos are usually the ones that go viral! Put your CEO in a dunk tank and tell followers that they'll only get dunked if you reach a certain goal. Cut down some of your most powerful promotional videos into 30-second "teaser trailers" to show off the work you do. Heck, you can even pen a #GivingTuesday parody song!

#GivingTuesday is Your Friend

In its third year, the official #GivingTuesday movement has actually already done a lot of the prep work for you! First off, you'll want to make sure you set your organization up on the official #GivingTuesday list at http://www.givingtuesday.org/join/. Then head on over to the Tools section and check out all the awesome resources that will help you kickstart your #GivingTuesday online fundraising campaign in a hurry. They've got everything from logos and banners to an entire curriculum guide so you maximize your donor engagement and online donations.

Kindful is Your Friend!

Here are two ways that Kindful can be your best friend this #GivingTuesday:

1. No time to create a new campaign page for online fundraising on #GivingTuesday? No problem - Kindful has created one for you! With your FREE #GivingTuesday Cause page you can upload videos to inspire your donors, publically track your fundraising progress to encourage even more online donations, and share your campaign all over social media with just one click. Oh, and did we mention that there's seamless integration with your Facebook comments and your online donations will always get automatically added to the Kindful database? How's that for a win-win situation?
2. #GivingTuesday is a great way to increase your donor engagement and online donations one day out of the year, but why stop there! December is traditionally the biggest month of giving, with lots of organizations reporting 30% of their total annual giving coming in during the last month of the year. That's why Kindful has created the ultimate guide for turning #GivingTuesday into 30 Days of Giving. Download it today and end the year strong!