GiveBIG 2020 – Everything You Need to Know for this Washington-Only Spring Fundraising Campaign
See Below for 7 GiveBIG Fundraising Campaign Ideas
If you are a Washington-based nonprofit, you are probably eligible to participate in the 10th annual one-day GiveBIG fundraiser on May 6th, 2020.
If you haven’t heard of it, GiveBIG began ten years ago through the Seattle Foundation. They wanted to do something to increase giving for local nonprofits and make an impact in the community. Each year it got bigger, and it became so successful that it outgrew their ability to manage it. So, in 2019, 501 Commons and Encore Media took the reins. You can see some history of GiveBIG here.
In the eight years GiveBIG was run by the Seattle Foundation, it raised over $110 million for local nonprofits.
Why GiveBIG 2020 Is a Great Opportunity for Your Nonprofit
Fundraising is hard. Any tool that makes it easier is worth strong consideration.
GiveBIG is essentially a massive peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. That means, this is a relatively easy fundraising opportunity. All the infrastructure is in place for you to set up a fundraising page, create a goal, and run a campaign through their site.
Donors like to give when lots of other people give. It’s the power of the crowd. That’s one reason Giving Tuesday has become such a great success.
If you ran a fundraising campaign on your own, it probably wouldn’t do as well as if you ran the exact same campaign through GiveBIG. It’s just how donors are.
How to Get in on GiveBIG 2020
All the information can be found on the GiveBIG Washington website.
Fees, eligibility, and other questions can be found here.
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
One interesting note on credit card processing fees. Part of GiveBIG’s program is to offer donors the chance to cover these fees, so the nonprofit doesn’t have to eat the cost. In 2019, 83% of donors said ‘Yes’ to this. So while the processing fees for GiveBIG stand at 4.6%, you will very likely have much less than that taken from your donation total.
That’s how awesome your donors are!
Tips for setting up your GiveBIG fundraising page can be found here.
GiveBIG makes it easy to run an engaging multimedia fundraising campaign. On your fundraising page, you can upload a video and up to eight images to help tell a story that will engage potential donors and motivate them to give.
Ideas for Raising BIG Money through GiveBIG 2020
With the platform and all the backend infrastructure in place, all you have to do is develop your campaign and then push it out to potential donors. Remember – this is a one-day campaign. While there is an early giving period, May 6th is the day of GiveBIG, and it’s over after that.
So it has a fixed deadline. Working backward from that, here are a few fundraising ideas you can try:
1. Set a Specific Goal to Meet a Particular Need
Donors respond to practical and immediate needs. Does your nonprofit have a particular need that could be met in one day, based on your nonprofit’s reach?
Maybe you need a new delivery van. Could you raise $25,000 in one day to pay for it? Some type of critical equipment or infrastructure need – for which you can communicate the impact well – is a great option for GiveBIG.
You might also choose to quantify the impact a certain dollar amount will have on your beneficiaries. Something like, “Raise $10,000 to pay for x amount of lifesaving medicines.”
2. Set a Specific Goal for General Needs
Because GiveBIG offers you a chance to attract new donors, you might choose to set a goal that will simply further your mission. Tell a powerful story on your GiveBIG fundraising page that represents the core of what your nonprofit does. Then ask donors to help reach a certain goal on May 6th.
3. Create a Matching Grant Campaign
Image credit: Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay
GiveBIG allows for matching grant campaigns. You can learn more about how on their webpage.
But donors respond to matching campaigns because it’s like doubling (or tripling) their money. They give $10, but it becomes $20. It’s a beautiful thing.
Consider reaching out to some of your major donors and inquire about their interest in funding a matching gift. They are often receptive to these because it increases their impact too, and the idea of motivating a bunch of other people to join together and give is very appealing.
4. Encourage Employer Matching Gifts
Some of the biggest companies in Washington, like Microsoft, offer matching donations to their employees. Whatever their employees give, their company will match it.
This is an awesome opportunity for people to double their impact, and it is a great motivator for employees who work at these companies.
And, GiveBIG has made this easy to administer, because employers can set up an employer account on the website. If your employer does this, it will be very easy for all the matching processes to work out smoothly.
5. Push Your GiveBIG Fundraising Page on Social Media
GiveBIG is a social event, again much like Giving Tuesday. Push it relentlessly on social media. Get people to share it and talk about it.
To take this farther, create videos and blogs telling multiple impact stories related to the goal of your campaign. The key is to work smartly with the timing.
Early giving doesn’t begin until April 22nd. So you want the majority of your campaign materials to start going out around that time. That’s about a two-week giving window.
You can do that, right?! One social media post per day for two weeks?
You can write them all in one day if you commit to it.
6. Push Your GiveBIG Campaign on Email
Your email list is already comprised of people who know your organization. Tell them about your GiveBIG campaign in a few emails, and your people will give. Again, wait until late April before sending these out.
I recommend a 3-5 email campaign, with the last one or two emails going out on May 6th.
7. Push Your GiveBIG Campaign on Google Ad Grants, if You Have It
If you don’t have Ad Grants, now is probably not the time to try to set it up real fast. Because, it’s a pain to set up and you will get bogged down with this instead of just creating your GiveBIG campaign. Focus on that!
But if you do have Ad Grants, this is an opportunity to test out a few direct donation ads. I have found donation ads to be tough sells on Ad Grants, and it’s not how I use the platform, primarily. I use it to grow the nonprofit’s email list.
Here’s a video presentation I gave on how to grow your email list with Ad Grants.
But for GiveBIG, there’s a good chance people are searching for this term toward the end of April. Because it is so specific and local, you could produce a handful of ads for this, and see if you catch any new donors.
GiveBIG Important Dates
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Registration for GiveBIG is already open. Go here to get started.
Other important dates include:
March 1 – First day you can create your GiveBIG 2020 fundraising page
April 1 – Registration closes – don’t wait!
April 22nd – Early giving period begins – build your campaign around this date
May 6th – GiveBIG day
Again – your nonprofit must be based in Washington to participate. You do not have to do all your work in Washington. You must merely be based here.
Get Help Writing Your GiveBIG 2020 Fundraising Campaign
Want to do GiveBIG right, but don’t have the time?
Let ProActive Content help produce your campaign. We are fundraising copywriting specialists. We can produce your emails, your fundraising page copy, and if you’re really nice to us, your social media posts (we don’t use social media that much). We can also help you tell impact stories on blogs or other web materials.
To inquire about working with ProActive Content, click the button below.
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