3 Key Lessons Learned from Giving Tuesday for Nonprofits

Giving Tuesday: A Pivotal Moment in Philanthropy

Giving Tuesday 2023 marked a pivotal moment in philanthropy, shattering records and setting new trends in charitable giving. As we reflect on this day of global generosity, it is essential to unpack the learnings and understand how they can shape the strategies of nonprofit fundraising and communications going forward. In this guide, we examine the role of texting in fundraising campaigns, a tool that has shown remarkable innovation, effectiveness, and reach for nonprofit organizations.

Since its founding in 2012, GivingTuesday has grown from a single-day experiment at New York's 92nd Street Y into a global movement that spans more than 80 countries. Each year, the data from the movement reveals new insights about how donors behave, what motivates them, and where nonprofits should invest their time and resources. The lessons below are drawn from those trends — and they apply whether your organization raises $5,000 or $5 million on the day.

Increased Participation and Donations: A Surge of Generosity

The data from Giving Tuesday 2023 shows about 34 million Americans participated in Giving Tuesday that year. In fact, although 10% fewer people participated in 2023, Giving Tuesday donations were up slightly at $3.1 billion.

These trends suggest an awareness and willingness to contribute to charitable causes, proof that nonprofits are making tangible impacts in their communities and beyond.

The combination of fewer participants but higher total giving reveals something important: average gift sizes are increasing. Donors who do participate are giving more generously. This has strategic implications — it suggests that donor retention and deepening engagement with existing supporters may be more valuable than acquiring large numbers of new, low-dollar donors. Organizations that focus on cultivating their best supporters, rather than casting the widest possible net, are likely to see stronger Giving Tuesday results over time.

Lesson 1: A Shift in Giving Tuesday Donations

Donors from the United States gave $3.1 billion on Giving Tuesday in 2022. That is a 15% increase year over year from 2021. In 2023, high-income households were expected to provide an outsized share of all philanthropic giving. Data shows they provided about a third of all charitable dollars given in the U.S.

However, overall 2023 expectations were not met for the annual giving day. In contrast to expectations for Giving Tuesday 2023, the year witnessed a surprising dip in overall contributions, highlighting a need for nonprofits to reassess and revitalize their fundraising strategies.

This decline presents an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to embrace more direct and engaging methods, like text messaging, for their fundraising campaigns. By enabling real-time engagement and fostering a personal connection with donors, texting can be a powerful tool to rekindle the spirit of generosity, making it easier for individuals to contribute and feel more directly involved in the causes they support.

The shift toward larger gifts from fewer donors also reflects broader trends in U.S. philanthropy. According to Double the Donation's research on charitable giving trends, donor retention rates across the sector remain a persistent challenge, with many organizations losing a significant share of first-time donors within a year. Giving Tuesday is an excellent opportunity to acquire new donors, but only if your post-campaign stewardship is strong enough to retain them.

For nonprofits that saw flat or declining Giving Tuesday results, the data points toward several actionable changes: invest earlier in campaign planning (not just the week before), diversify your ask amounts to appeal to mid-level and major donors (not just $25 gifts), and integrate SMS into your channel mix to reach donors who are not engaging with email.

Lesson 2: The Need for Multichannel Communications

The increased use of digital platforms for fundraising over the past several years points to their growing importance in engaging donors and raising awareness. According to Double the Donation, female donors are more likely to make a donation because of social media marketing, while male donors are more likely to give because of email messages.

This trend underscores the need for nonprofits to strengthen their multichannel digital presence and leverage social media, email, texting, and other communication channels effectively. For more on building a multichannel approach, see our guide on direct mail vs. mobile marketing.

A multichannel approach does not mean sending the same message on every platform simultaneously. Each channel serves a distinct purpose in the donor journey. Social media builds awareness and creates social proof — when donors see their peers participating, they are more likely to join. Email provides the detail and context needed for informed giving — the campaign goal, the matching gift details, the impact story. Text messaging drives action — it is the channel that converts awareness and interest into a completed donation, especially in time-sensitive moments like the final hours of Giving Tuesday.

The practical implication for nonprofits is to plan your Giving Tuesday campaign as a coordinated sequence, not a simultaneous blast. Start with awareness (social media, 1–2 weeks out), build engagement (email, the week before), and close with action (SMS, day of). The GivingTuesday Data Commons provides free data and tools to help organizations benchmark their performance against the broader movement — use it to identify which channels are driving your results and which need improvement.

Lesson 3: Texting Is a Game-Changer for Nonprofit Campaigns

Texting has emerged as a powerful and innovative tool for nonprofits. Text messages boast a 99% open rate and a 90% read rate within three minutes, offering immediacy, personalization, and high engagement rates. Its success lies in its ability to reach donors directly and promptly, making it a valuable addition to any fundraising strategy.

Best practices from successful campaigns suggest that integrating texting can significantly enhance the effectiveness of fundraising efforts. Nonprofits that pair Giving Tuesday text messages with their email and social media outreach consistently see stronger results.

What makes SMS uniquely effective for Giving Tuesday is the day's compressed timeline. Unlike a multi-week year-end campaign, Giving Tuesday is a single 24-hour window. Donors need to be reached quickly, reminded at key moments (morning, afternoon, and evening), and given a frictionless way to give immediately. Email can take hours or even days to be opened; a text message is seen in minutes. On a day when timing determines outcomes, that speed advantage translates directly into higher donation rates.

The most effective SMS campaigns on Giving Tuesday share several common patterns. They send a warm-up message the day or week before to set expectations. They send two to three messages on the day itself — a morning launch, an afternoon progress update, and an evening final push. They include a direct link to a mobile-optimized donation page. And they follow up the next day with a thank-you that shares the campaign's results. This five-message sequence takes less than an hour to plan and schedule, but it can generate a significant share of a nonprofit's total Giving Tuesday revenue.

What the Data Means for Your Giving Tuesday Strategy

The three lessons above point to a clear set of strategic priorities for nonprofits preparing for Giving Tuesday:

• Focus on retention, not just acquisition. With fewer participants giving larger amounts, the donors you already have are your most valuable asset. Invest in stewardship before and after Giving Tuesday to maximize their lifetime value.
• Coordinate your channels, don't duplicate them. Map each channel to a specific role in the donor journey and plan a sequence that builds from awareness to action.
• Add SMS if you have not already. If you are relying solely on email and social media, you are missing the channel with the highest open rates and the fastest response times. Even a small SMS list can generate meaningful revenue on Giving Tuesday.
• Start planning earlier. The most successful Giving Tuesday campaigns begin in October, not the week before Thanksgiving. Earlier planning gives you time to grow your subscriber list, secure matching gift partners, and draft and test your messages.
• Measure and learn. After Giving Tuesday, analyze your results by channel, segment, and message. Which texts drove the most donations? Which email had the highest click-through rate? Which social media post generated the most shares? Use those insights to improve your year-end campaign in December and your Giving Tuesday campaign the following year.

Implications for Nonprofits: Adapting and Innovating

For nonprofits, these insights from Giving Tuesday 2023 are invaluable. They point toward the necessity of holistic communication strategies that incorporate these lessons, particularly the importance of adapting to demographic shifts and leveraging digital trends. Nonprofits must be willing to innovate and embrace new technologies and platforms to stay relevant and effective in their fundraising efforts.

Giving Tuesday 2023 offered critical lessons that can shape the future of nonprofit strategies. The increased engagement and supporter participation, demographic shifts, and the rise of digital campaigns are trends that cannot be ignored. In particular, the role of texting in fundraising presents a unique and engaging opportunity for nonprofits to connect with their donors in a more personal and impactful way.

It is crucial that nonprofits adapt, innovate, and leverage these insights to maximize their impact and achieve their fundraising goals.

Put These Lessons Into Practice

If you want to leverage texting in your fundraising and communications strategy, momoGood Messaging provides the tools you need, from donor segmentation to AI-powered message composition and real-time campaign analytics. Contact our team to get started.