#GivingTuesday 2014 is a great opportunity to re-engage your volunteers!
— VolunteerHub (@volunteerhub) November 21, 2014
If your organization is preparing for #GivingTuesday on December 2nd, chances are most of what you’ve read about is how to raise money during this 24-hour give-athon.
But what about your volunteers?
Volunteers give their time (which they can never get back), so why wouldn’t they be interested in participating in a #GivingTuesday campaign as well? #GivingTuesday offers your volunteers new ways to spread the word about your organization with their friends!
Here are three strategies to engage volunteers on #GivingTuesday:
1. Promote Volunteering with a Volunteer Pledge
Most people will give their money on #GivingTuesday. But what about their time?
Some people won’t be able to donate their time on #GivingTuesday (they may have to work), but they can pledge to volunteer for your organization in the future. To put this strategy into action, all you need to do is create a webpage with upcoming opportunities (a la VolunteerHub) and also a way for people to join your email list. You can then follow up by email after #GivingTuesday, routing them through your normal volunteer onboarding process.
2. Turn Volunteers into Fundraisers
Don’t forget that many of your volunteers are probably excellent fundraisers. Some fundraising platforms, like Blackbaud’s suite of CRMs, allow organizations to enlist their core supporters in peer-to-peer fundraising (asking friends).
If you plan on using a peer-to-peer fundraising platform on #GivingTuesday, make sure you ask your core volunteers to create fundraising pages. Again, the fact that they’ve volunteered for your organization is evidence that they are not only committed, but also have compelling stories that are needed for successful fundraising.
3. Encourage Volunteers to Give it Forward
The whole point of #GivingTuesday is for people to be generous and think of others – instead of buying things for themselves on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Interestingly, most nonprofits that participate in #GivingTuesday will be raising money for their own organization. So, #GivingTuesday is in many ways about taking.
This actually creates a great opportunity to differentiate your organization. How so? Encourage volunteers to go forth and support other organizations, help a neighbor, or aid the homeless. In doing so, you will easily stand apart from the crowd.
