Giving Tuesday Pros and Cons – How to cut through the noise and make it work for you
Pros
1. Easy-Peasy. This is a good opportunity to rally your team around a common goal. There are ready-made activities and campaigns that can create connection among your corporate team members or support for your nonprofit. No need to start from scratch - just visit www.givingtuesday.org or check out your favorite nonprofits on social for endless options.
2. Double Your Impact. Large donors and companies often match Giving Tuesday gifts made to their favorite charities. Make your dollars go further to help worthy causes.
3. Giving Tuesday is a perfect excuse to spread the word about a mission you care about. Think of Giving Tuesday as your free pass to post on social media about the neighborhood development organization you have been involved in or the museum you love. Who knows – your friend on Instagram might be looking for their next passion project, and you can help them find it.
Cons
1. Everybody’s doing it. It is hard to cut through the noise of the THOUSANDS of nonprofits all asking for support at the same time. Donor fatigue has already set in by lunch.
2. The timing is suspect. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Then, once your bank account is almost completely drained, Giving Tuesday comes along and asks you to dig a little deeper. Why do good causes get the table scraps?
3. Did I mention everyone is doing it? A very unscientific poll of about 20 nonprofit friends found that 90% had launched a campaign in the past or planned to this year, and 5% recommended Giving Tuesday as a good return on investment.
Rethinking Your Day of Giving
1. You don’t have to give or ask for money THAT day. How about creating a day of giving that has nothing to do with Giving Tuesday? What is the date your organization was founded? How about creating a day of giving then? You will get a lot more attention and interest if you can separate yourself from the noise.
2. You don’t have to give or ask for MONEY that day. There are lots of ways to give. Why not use the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to give time to a nonprofit or a neighbor, give a voice to a movement or a struggling artist, give thanks to your community group or coworkers for all they have done to make the world better this year.
3. You don’t HAVE to give or ask for money that day, but maybe consider it. Every time a new request comes across your screen, take a moment to be grateful for what that organization is doing to make the world a better place, be grateful if you have the means to share some of what you have with others, and then give. Now take just one more moment to realize just how good it feels. The gift that keeps giving.