B’nai B’rith Camp (BB Camp) in Oregon makes a big deal out of #GivingTuesday (and receives a lot of donations!) to help supplement their overall year-end fundraising. To what do they owe their success on Giving Tuesday?
- A lot of pre-planning.
- A culture at the camp that inspires generous giving throughout the year, not just at year-end.
Specifically, BB Camp believes the following components help them successfully leverage Giving Tuesday to enhance their year-end fundraising.
Marketing: BB Camp brands #GivingTuesday as #BBGives. For the month leading up to #GivingTuesday, BB Camp posts custom videos on social media which together tell a story to inspire support and awareness of the camp. The messages are posted once a week, and then daily the week before Giving Tuesday. This year, the marketing theme will be “Thank you notes” ala
Jimmy Fallon style. See
samples here from last year’s social media campaign, and
here for an example of #Unselfies from their 2015 campaign.
Matching Gifts: Matching gifts are a great way to spur giving on Giving Tuesday.
BB Camp identifies two or three major donors who in total pledge $50,000 to double match all gifts made on Giving Tuesday up to $25,000.
Phone-a-thon: BB Camp lines up volunteers, Board members and staff to make phone calls, send emails, post on Facebook, and reach out to friends and alumni throughout the day asking for donations on #GivingTuesday. Each year they set a new goal for the number of volunteers engaged– this year’s goal is over 30 people helping to ask for donations. This year we are encouraging campers and parents to start Peer to Peer fundraising pages to ask for gifts from friends and family on #GivingTuesday.
Year-end Follow-up Appeal Letter: Appeal letters for lapsed donors who are not reached on #GivingTuesday are sent immediately after the event.
Looking for more insight into Giving Tuesday?
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Written by Julia Riseman. Julia is a Mentor with JCamp 180. Julia leads Data2Donors, a program to advance Alumni Outreach, improve camp databases, and raise more major gifts, and Fundraising Fundamentals. Julia has also sparked the creation of many JCamp 180 programs and offerings, including this blog.
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Who we are: JCamp 180 is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF). Our goal is to significantly enhance the long-term effectiveness of nonprofit Jewish camps in North America. To meet this goal, we provide affiliated Jewish camps with consulting services, annual conferences, shared resources, professional development, and matching grant opportunities. Find more at www.jcamp180.org.