How to connect to Giving Tuesday as a small charity

Giving Tuesday is an international movement dedicated to celebrating giving and generosity. Every year, millions of charities across the globe come together to inspire people to donate money or goods, volunteer or organise a community events. And celebrities will get involved too, last year Stephen Fry did a video for the Wildlife Trust.  

This is a truly unparalleled opportunity for small charities to use an international platform to amplify and elevate their work. With digital advertising costs on the rise, being part of a global campaign can make sure fundraising asks stand out, reach new audiences and boost engagement with existing ones- all whilst reminding donors why giving can be joyful and fulfilling.   

Giving Tuesday takes place on the first Tuesday after American Thanksgiving, so this year’s Giving Tuesday will take place on Tuesday 3 December. You have plenty of time to plan your campaign and you can find out how to take part. We have put together a few simple ideas to help you get started: 

There are countless ways to create a fun and engaging Giving Tuesday campaign and foster community spirit. It’s about celebrating all kinds of giving and generosity, you can really get creative like Lepra UK who decided to use a play on words to launch Giving Shoes Day.  

Whether it’s encouraging long-term supporters to do their own fundraisers, using testimonials from beneficiaries to bring your work to life, or hosting a thank you event for your current supporters or volunteers, you can use the day to reach any goal. You can find some inspiration from others to get you thinking. 

We have developed a toolkit so that all charities can take part for free using the Giving Tuesday branding. It has a range of assets you can use, from free stock images to GIFs and stickers as well as instructions on how to use them, so that if you are short on time, you can still take part in the day.  

You are welcome to also build your own bespoke assets, in which case we hope that this toolkit provides some inspiration for what is possible.  

These can be a great way to make donating easy and accessible for supporters and are quick to set up. There are a range of platforms available that can suit any budget and allow you to tailor campaigns to suit your brand, enhance supporters’ experience, and improve insight through dedicated reporting. A few that our members have found helpful are: 

• Just Giving - One of the first online fundraising platforms, they can provide charities with dedicated campaign pages that can be used to cultivate communities and create engaging experiences through videos and livestreams.   

• Givey – As a passionate advocate for small charities and grassroot causes, this platform aims to build a community of like-minded people looking to make a positive difference through collective philanthropy.  

• CAF Donate – This platform gives you creative freedom to develop online donation pages which reflect your charity’s brand. Over the years, it has helped thousands of small charities to raise millions for good causes. 

• Enthuse Donations – Another platform that puts your charity brand front and centre, whilst providing customised thank you messages.   

• Facebook Fundraising – Nearly 3 billion people use the Facebook each month so Facebook can be a great way to reach supporters. You will need to apply to access their charitable giving tools, which can take up to three weeks to be reviewed.  

With so much activity happening on the day itself, having a page on your website can make it quicker and simpler for donors to learn more about your work and support you. It can also help build long-lasting relationships with donors passionate about your cause that extend beyond Giving Tuesday.  

This could be as simple as publishing a blog that points to more information about your work and highlights key Giving Tuesday asks. Or it could be more interactive, with video messages from beneficiaries that bring your impact to life and a link to your own payment gateway to encourage regular donations. Whichever route you choose to go down, you can save time by repurposing content from previous campaigns and projects. 

Thanks to gift aid, charities can claim back 25p for every £1 given by UK taxpayers on qualifying donations, making it a fantastic way to maximise the value of donations, at no extra cost to the charity or donor.  

When planning your campaign, take a moment to consider which donations are suitable for gift aid and that you are providing donors with the relevant forms. It is also worth being very clear in all your communications that this is only an option for UK taxpayers to avoid claims being made in error.  

If you are using an online platform, they will often embed their own forms into the process to make this easier.  

We are so excited to see how charities get creative to make this year’s Giving Tuesday the biggest one yet so that together we can celebrate the joy of generosity. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us on givingtuesday@ciof.org.uk.