#GivingTuesday takes place on Tuesday 27th November. This hashtag campaign was started in the US as a counterpoint to Cyber Monday, the idea being that instead of buying consumer goods online, people do something altruistic online such as making a donation. It doesn’t seem to have taken off in Ireland to the same extent but it’s worth 1) considering if you can do some online communications for your cause, and 2) watching what’s happening on the hashtag in the US and the UK.
Remember of course that people aren’t inspired to give by hashtags, they’re inspired by storytelling about the cause. If you haven’t been talking about your impact and sharing compelling stories, they’re not going to leap to support you just because you use the #GivingTuesday hashtag. But if your digital is in good shape, and you have an engaged audience, it’s worth testing something out tomorrow.
This article from Zurich Insurance’s sector insight blog has some useful ideas for doing something meaningful with the hashtag; I like that they’ve structured it around using Giving Tuesday for thanking your supporters rather than asking. We all know that thanks to a warm audience are much, much more likely to raise funds than asks to a cold audience.