 What Worked for Us on Giving Tuesday 2025: Real Strategies, Real ResultsEach year, I get a little more reflective about what actually moves the needle on Giving Tuesday. It’s one part adrenaline, one part strategy, and one part relationships – the same ingredients that fuel fundraising the rest of the year, just turned up a few notches. This year? We hit our match. We saw strong donor response. And we learned a few things worth carrying into the next big push. Here’s what worked: 1. The Match Game, with a Twist Last year, we had a $20,000 match and hit it – barely. It took extending our deadline to pull it across the finish line. This year, with our donors’ permission, we split that ask into two: two $10,000 matches from two separate donors. One for Giving Tuesday. One saved for Calendar Year-End. It created a sense of focus. One target, one day. And we met it. Now we can head into December with some real momentum. “We hit the match on Giving Tuesday” makes a great line in every follow-up email. It tells a success story that donors helped write – and that builds confidence for the next ask. 2. Direct Contact Beat the Megaphone Most of our gifts came through personal outreach. Not social media. Not big email blasts. Just me and my annual giving staffer reaching out by phone and plain emails from our Outlook inboxes. That’s where the action happened. That’s where the giving happened. I’m not knocking digital strategy – it plays its role. But, for us, Giving Tuesday was won in the inbox and on the phone. This reinforces my observations I wrote about earlier this fall about digital burnout and the reprise of analog communications. 3. Board Engagement Started Early More than half of our board gave on Giving Tuesday. That didn’t happen by accident. We start talking about Giving Tuesday in September. By November, they’ve heard the plan, seen the goal, and received a cheat sheet with sample language and graphics to share on social. The week before Giving Tuesday, we send that cheat sheet again. And this year, they showed up. Not just with gifts, but with pride – and we’re closer to hitting 100% board giving for the year because of it. 4. Targeted Appeals to Past Giving Tuesday Donors and LYBUNTs We made it easy on ourselves this year. Instead of trying to inspire everyone on our list, we reached out to the people who’ve already shown us they like giving on Giving Tuesday. We pulled two lists:
When the subject line says, “I know you like to give on this day…” it doesn’t feel like a cold call. It’s a reminder. And it works. 5. Monthly Donors and Pledgers Want to Participate, Too This one surprised me last year and held true again. Donors who already give monthly or have pledge commitments still want to be part of Giving Tuesday. They like seeing the school hit a goal. They like contributing to a match. So, they give again. That meant a few extra gifts came in from already-committed supporters. Nothing huge – but meaningful. Here’s how we handled those emails: "I hope you are doing well! I wanted to reach out today to let you know that it is Giving Tuesday and Starr King School for the Ministry has a goal of raising $10,000 to reach a challenge match of $10,000 (for a total of $20,000 for this beloved school). If you would like to participate, as you have so generously done in the past, your gift would again be matched 100%. Just visit www.sksm.edu/givingtuesday TODAY and you can make your gift online. Also, we know and appreciate ALL you have done for Starr King as sustainers this year so please don’t feel obligated to give more. I just know you have given to matches in the past and wanted to make sure you knew!" No pressure. Just an invitation to be part of something they’ve supported before. Giving Tuesday doesn’t have to be a guessing game. It’s a day to do what already works in your shop – just more of it, with a little more urgency and clarity. We focused on:
It paid off. Not just in dollars, but in board engagement, team morale, and a strong hand to play as we close out the year. And that’s the kind of success worth repeating. Cheers!  P.S. Like this kind of insight? Subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising and get my best articles, tools, and curated resources every week – including webinars, videos, and free downloads
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Jessica Cloud, CFREI've been called the Tasmanian Devil of fundraising and I'm here to talk shop with you. Archives
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