Doubleknot Friday News - Vol. 243
11/6/2015

Giving Tuesday is December 1, 2015

Since its creation in 2012, Giving Tuesday—an international national day of giving created to counter the consumerism of the holiday season—has grown both in popularity and in the amount of funds raised. This year, Giving Tuesday is on Tuesday, December 1, 2015.

If your organization is participating, now is the time to make sure that your online donation pages are optimized for the best donor experience on Giving Tuesday.

The easiest way to set up a Giving Tuesday page in Doubleknot is to create a Dues item in Event Management, and place a prominent link to the donation form on your home page. General guidelines for promoting Giving Tuesday include the following:

• Promote your Giving Tuesday campaign in constituent communications and social media.
• Display a prominent link on your home page for your Giving Tuesday donation campaign. If your organization uses Site Brander, use the DK Links feature to add the link to the Giving Tuesday donation page.
• On the donation page, explain what the funds will be used for and how the donor’s contribution will make an impact.

Preparing for Holiday Giving

According to Guidestar, about 33 percent of all annual giving takes place in December and more than 20 percent occurs in the last two days of the year. Here are a few tips to help you ensure that your web site is ready to support year-end charitable donations:

• Make sure that your web site promotes holiday giving. In addition to a Donate Now button throughout the site and an integrated donation request at checkout, consider placing a compelling appeal on the main landing page for your site.
• Check that your donation process is easy for users. For example, people may abandon their donation if they have to fill out multiple forms. Completing a donation should be as easy for the donor as possible.Inform your constituents about your appeal!
• Send a Communications Center email and use social media to engage and inform your followers.
• Confirm that your donation receipts contain all IRS legal requirements as well as your sincere appreciation. When you create or edit a Fundraiser event, enter the information in the Receipt Confirmation field.
• Large donations may warrant a handwritten thank-you, a personal email, or a phone call. A fast way to identify large donations is to use the Payment and Attendee Summary report in Event Management. 

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