#GivingTuesday: Non-profits, Are You Ready? Do You Have a Plan?

It is hard to believe that the holiday season is just around the corner but it is. Before you know it, it will be Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. What is Giving Tuesday? Giving Tuesday is a day when charitable organizations from across the nation come together and collectively launch their holiday giving campaigns.

Having spent many years working for some of the most amazing charities in the Chicagoland area (Starlight Children’s Foundation, Easter Seals, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Archdiocese of Chicago), I know that a well-strategized and well-executed holiday campaign can make a major impact on how a charity ends its year.

Giving Tuesday does something very important. It brings together the work of so many charities to promote philanthropy and community involvement. It positions the holidays of a time of giving and giving back. It celebrates how we can do more with our wallets than shop. We can bring smiles to faces of suffering children We can inspire change. We can fund groundbreaking research. We can make a difference.

I am encouraging all charities to check out GivingTuesday.org and think about what they are doing to kick off holiday giving. In the meantime, I would like to offer you the following pieces of advice:

• Be sure to include social media and the Internet in your holiday giving plan. Social Media has proven itself as a major force in Friend to Friend fundraising and non-profit communication. Leverage these strengths to reach more people.
• Offer options for giving. There has been a recent trend to ask for one specific amount to fund a specific cause. This may not be the best approach here. Because you are reaching out to so many different people of a variety of giving potentials, give options. For example, give information about giving societies, restricted individual gifts as well as volunteer opportunities. For the online community, it is best to offer a menu of options.
• Strategize and then execute. Look at your online constituencies and then prepare to a plan to reach of these groups. Finally, carefully execute that plan.

Boxless Media was founded by Jason Baumann – an entrepreneur that spent more than 15 years working for non-profit organizations. Boxless knows non-profit organizations and is available to help you leverage the power of social media to achieve social good. For more information and to receive a special #GivingTuesday Preparedness Package, email jb@boxlessmedia.com.