The success of your Day of Giving depends on your communication plan. A detailed plan outlining all communication channels, frequency, and content leading up to your big day will go a long way to ensuring your Day of Giving is a success. On your Day of Giving, you will also need a communication plan to let your constituents know the progress of your campaign and upcoming challenges.

In Step 1 of our series, we discussed the importance of setting a theme for your campaign. You established the reason why you are raising money and the impact your donors can make. Your giving day should be centered around a theme that your constituents will gravitate towards. This theme should transpire through your communication plan.

Stating Your Objectives

Every communication plan should start by stating your objectives and articulating them to your donors. You already have your goal set, whether it’s a number of gifts or dollar amount. Now it’s time to identify why it’s important to reach your goal. Of course, your objective is to raise money for your school, but that’s too broad. Try to narrow it down. Does your school have a cherished patron Saint? Perhaps you can integrate this Saint into your strategy.

Your giving day is an opportunity to do more than fundraise. It’s an opportunity to engage your donors and create a cause that they will want to keep donating to. Your objective should include turning donors into advocates and have them spread the word about your giving day. Read how this Catholic school expanded their donor base and raised 6.5X more money than the previous year during their giving day. If this is your first time hosting a giving day, your objective is to create a memorable experience for your donors. You can create that experience with a strong communication plan.

Developing Your Audience

Knowing your audience will help you develop your communication plan. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the age range of your donors?
• How do they like to receive information?
• Are they active on social media?
• What is their motivation to give?

It can be helpful to develop personas for your target audience. For example, if one of your goals is to increase your young alumni donors, create a persona for this donor type. By outlining their preferred communication method, you can run a multi-channel campaign to reach them. Hubspot has some great persona templates that you may find useful if you don’t know where to start. The goal is to recognize that not all donors will respond to all your communication channels and to develop different strategies for each donor group.

Tailoring Your Message

Your message is the backbone of your giving day campaign. Now more than ever, your message must be clear and include an emotional hook. Your mission should transpire through every part of your communication plan. During and after the pandemic, it’s important to be as transparent as possible in your message. Your constituents want to know the impact and importance of their gift.

Write out your giving day mission statement and include it on all communications, whether it’s email, social media, and print. Then adapt your message to each of your personas. Your mission will have a different impact on a first-time donor and a repeat top donor.

Prepare Your Assets

Create a list of assets that you will need for your communication plan to be effective. Start by taking an inventory of your asset library and determine what you will need. This includes:

• Special event logo
• Video
• Email templates for your volunteers
• Social media headers and templates for stories

Your asset list will ensure that you will have a consistent look and feel throughout your campaign communications. If you don’t have access to a designer or design service, you can use Canva to come up with all the different size assets that you will need. Canva is an easy-to-use tool that requires no design skills and will result in your assets looking professional.

Communication Plan Timeline

Your communication timeline can be divided into three different phases: Pre-Giving Day, Giving Day/Week, and Follow-up.

Pre-Giving Day (5-6 weeks prior to your giving day):

Start communicating with your constituents 5 to 6 weeks before your giving day. Send out a save-the-date email with an explanation of your mission and why you are having a giving day. Once the official announcement has been sent out through your various channels, start sending weekly updates. Your weekly updates can include a countdown, video testimonials, and challenge opportunities. Remind your constituents that your giving day is not just about raising money. Let them know that they can also donate their time or skills. This is a great way to acquire volunteers who may not be able to donate.

During the week leading up to your giving day, plan on escalating your social media strategy to daily posts. Make your posts engaging by posting video testimonials and your pre-giving day thermometer if you received gifts through your fundraising platform ahead of your giving day. The goal is to get your donors excited about your giving day and spread the word by encouraging them to share your post.

On your giving day:

Plan on sending 3-4 emails throughout the day to keep your donors engaged and make them feel like they are part of a community. The first email you send out is crucial and should re-state your goal. It’s also meant to excite your donors. Use phrases such as “Today’s the day!” or “The Biggest Giving Day of the Year is Here!”.

The remaining emails should include goal updates, videos, challenges, and any other form of communication that will motivate donors to give. Using challenges will excite your donors to give and they will feel like their gift helped unlock a certain challenge.

Your last email that day should go out at the close of your campaign to let your donors know you reached your goal and how much money was raised. If you did not reach your goal, you can use this email as a final push to the finish line.

Run your social media campaigns following the same guidelines as email updates. You can add an element of fun using Facebook and Instagram stories to reach younger donors and remind them to make a gift. Get your school’s students to participate in short videos that are engaging to watch. One school incorporated flags into their strategy. Every time a gift was made, a flag was planted on the green in front of the school. This created great content for social media and it was engaging to see the sea of flags grow.

Post-Giving Day:

Your giving day is over but it’s not time to rest yet! Send a thank-you email to all your donors. This email should contain the total amount raised, whether your campaign is still open to donations, and an impact message about the cause the donors contributed to.

Your communication plan is at the heart of your giving day’s success. Without a plan, you will be left scrambling to solidify your relationship with your constituents. A strong communication plan should be engaging, heartfelt, and motivate your donors to give. Happy planning!