For many nonprofit fundraisers, GivingTuesday is like the Super Bowl. It’s the moment they’ve been waiting for all year long, when millions of people across the world are ready and raring to participate in a global day of giving. On GivingTuesday 2024, donors in the U.S. alone gave over $3.6 billion!
With so many people primed and ready to support worthy causes on GivingTuesday, it’s the perfect time for nonprofits to hold a standalone fundraiser or—even better—kick off their year-end giving campaign. And since the day has always been a digital-first event, email is going to be your most effective form of outreach.
That’s why we’ve created a series of email templates that maximize the effectiveness of your GivingTuesday emails and cover each stage of your campaign—with different templates for individual nonprofit sectors as well!
In this article, we’ll provide three examples built using these templates, plus some general tips and best practices you can use in your own messages.
Download Our GivingTuesday Email Templates
As a part of our GivingTuesday Toolkit, we’ve created a packet of 12 templates that you can use to craft your organization’s email campaigns. In this article, we’ve included three examples built using those templates.
If you’d like to download the full suite, just click the button below:
Email #1: Save the Date
Your donors shouldn’t be surprised when they receive a message on GivingTuesday asking them to donate. Your campaign should start in the weeks prior to the big day with emails that inform your supporters about GivingTuesday, build anticipation, and get them excited about supporting your work.
Below is an example of a pre-GivingTuesday message from an (imaginary) nonprofit called Agloe Nature Center.
“Save the Date” Example
Subject Line: Save the Date! Tuesday, December 2
Dear Katrina,
What’s special about Tuesday, December 2 this year?
It’s GivingTuesday! After the hustle and bustle of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, GivingTuesday is a day where people all over the world come together to support their favorite nonprofits.
Will you celebrate with us?
This year, The Agloe Center has set an ambitious GivingTuesday goal to raise $15,000 to save 20 acres of pristine Florida scrubland from the threat of development—but we’ll only reach that goal through the kindness and generosity of people like you!
There are lots of ways to get involved, too, like:
- Donating to The Agloe Center and preserving our state’s natural beauty
- Supporting other local nonprofits you love
- Spreading the word to your friends, family, and coworkers and inviting them to join you in making a difference.
- Volunteering at our annual cleanup event happening that day
- Following us on Facebook and Instagram, and sharing our posts with your friends
Your support on GivingTuesday will play a key role in preserving important Floridian ecosystems for future generations. I hope you’ll join us!
Tips & Best Practices
As you compose your initial GivingTuesday message, here are some tips and email best practices to keep in mind.
- Give them all the details: GivingTuesday is always held on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, but that date changes every year. Make sure you give your supporters information on when GivingTuesday is happening, what your campaign is raising funds for, where they can find more information, etc.
- Use a special GivingTuesday donation form: A great way to help people follow through on their intent to donate is by creating a special donation form that carries GivingTuesday-specific branding! Plus, it’ll help with post-campaign reporting, as all donations made through that form can confidently be assigned to your GivingTuesday campaign.
- Include multiple calls to action: Even though this template includes a link to the Agloe Nature Center’s donation form, the assumption is that most people will give on the big day. In the meantime, you should follow this example by asking supporters to take action by following your social media accounts for more updates and by spreading the word to friends and family.
Email #2: Give Today
When GivingTuesday finally rolls around on December 2, you plan on sending out multiple messages throughout the day. Shoot for one to two emails per donor segment! These messages will be focused on encouraging donations and social media posts while also updating supporters on the progress of your campaign.
Here’s an example of the initial email you should send.
“Give Today” Example
Subject Line: Donate Today and Save Florida’s Ecosystems!
If you’ve ever walked through the scrubland habitat on the Lake Wales Ridge, you know how beautiful it is. Scrub oaks, palmettos, and pines are full of scrub jays and dozens of other kinds of birds. Squirrels, armadillos, bears, and bobcats wander through the trees. If you’re lucky, you might spot a jingle bell orchid or one of the dozens of other species that exist only in this fragile ecosystem.
Today, that ecosystem is threatened by plans to develop the area.
This GivingTuesday, you can be a part of the effort to save our scrubland. The Agloe Center is working to raise $15,000 to go toward buying and preserving 20 acres of this important habitat.
Will you help?
When you give today, you’re doing more than just donating—you’ll make it possible to protect this endangered ecosystem.
Conservation advocates like you will make it possible for us to preserve this important part of the Lake Wales Ridge. We can’t do it without you. Will you please make a gift today?
Button: [Yes! I’ll Donate to Save Our Scrubland]
Tips & Best Practices
Here are some tips for making your GivingTuesday appeal as impactful as possible!
- Use the word “You”: This simple, one-syllable word is a great way to make your email appeal feel personal for your supporters. And it goes a lot further than trying to use their name multiple times throughout your message, which will quickly start to feel stilted and unnatural. Keeping the focus on your supporters—rather than on your organization—will make your appeal all the more powerful. And making statements that center around “you” is the best way to do that.
- Follow up: As we mentioned at the beginning of this section, this shouldn’t be the only GivingTuesday email that you send. You may want to consider sending a second appeal that updates people about your campaign progress and invites them to get involved. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also send a final update at the conclusion of GivingTuesday. In fact, we created a template for exactly that kind of message! You can download our GivingTuesday email templates suite to get it.
- Consider asking for a monthly gift: Recurring donors are one of the most valuable kinds of supporters that your organization can cultivate. Not only do they give regularly (often monthly), but they have an average donor lifetime of over 8 years! For your committed donors, GivingTuesday can be a great time to make a monthly gift. That’s why we’ve included 2 monthly templates (an appeal and a thank-you). For more on the growing importance of recurring donors, download The Recurring Giving Report: Data-Backed Insights for Sustainable Generosity.
Email #3: Post-Event Update
You did it! GivingTuesday has wrapped and you’ve hit your campaign goal. But that doesn’t mean the job is done. As a part of your donor management strategy, you should be capitalizing on this momentum with additional messages that encourage further engagement—especially from new supporters.
Here’s our final example from Agloe:
“Post-Event Update” Example
Subject Line: Look at What You Helped Achieve Yesterday!
Yesterday, you helped us raise $15,639.22 on GivingTuesday. Because of your support and the support other people in our community showed on GivingTuesday, we’ll be able to acquire the 20-acre lot of Florida scrubland that’s currently at risk of being developed. The plants and animals that rely on that precious ecosystem are safe.
Your generosity helped make that possible. Thank you so much for supporting this work!
We’d love to stay in touch with you and send you updates about the land acquisition process, our plans for maintaining that scrubland, and updates about future conservation efforts. Please keep an eye out for future emails! If you use social media, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram for pictures and updates, too.
Thank you again for your support and your passion for preserving Florida’s natural beauty. We couldn’t do this without you!
Button: [Learn More About the Florida Scrub]
Tips & Best Practices
This message isn’t just about saying “thank you,” it’s about beginning to build a deeper relationship with your supporters. Here are some tips and best practices to help you do just that.
- Don’t skip the receipt: This post-GivingTuesday update should be sent in addition to a standard donation receipt. This way, you can focus on your overall impact statement without also having to provide folks with the details of their transaction. If you would like a template for a GivingTuesday-specific receipt, we’ve included one in our downloadable packet.
- Include impact statements: Don’t just tell donors how much you raised. Let them know about the very real difference those funds are going to be making in your community. Beyond this initial impact statement, you should also plan on sending more detailed updates as your program kicks into high gear.
- Invite donors to engage further: The road from a first donation to a second donation can be a long one. But a good first step is inviting your donors to stay in-the-know by following you on social media or subscribing to your email newsletter. That’s an easy call to action you can include in this message while people are still basking in the warm and fuzzy feelings from their GivingTuesday support.
Download Neon One’s GivingTuesday Toolkit
Email is a hugely important part of GivingTuesday, but it’s not the whole shebang. GivingTuesday started as a social media-first phenomenon, and social media still plays a huge role in the day. Plus, there’s planning your overall GivingTuesday communications timeline and/or the year-end giving campaign that GivingTuesday is kicking off.
It’s a lot! Luckily, we have you covered. Neon One’s complete GivingTuesday Toolkit includes our email templates alongside social media templates, planning worksheets, and year-end resources as well. You can download the whole thing over at our GivingTuesday Resource Center.
