Giving Tuesday is quickly approaching on December 2, 2025. If you haven’t started to plan for it, now is the time to get going. Given our experience at Haven marketing working with nonprofits, we have created a Giving Tuesday Nonprofit Checklist to help guide you to a successful giving season.
Regardless of the size and mission of your organization, Giving Tuesday and the giving season are critical for the year-round success of your nonprofit or charity.
Getting ready, especially for those with lean staffing, can seem daunting, so we have a few tips to help get you on your way.
Donor Management Systems and Donation Collections
A solid donor management system and easy-to-use nonprofit donation software are the backbone of your organization. It enables donors to easily submit their donation and allows you to nurture them to grow their lifetime value (LTV).
The donation collection process is obviously critical, so make sure the key pieces are in place and test the process yourself by making a donation. Complete the entire donation journey and note carefully what you experience at each step of the way. Here are some keys to a good donation experience.
Haven’s Giving Tuesday Nonprofit Checklist:
- Create easy to spot Donate buttons
- Get rid of “offramps”
- Don’t over collect donor information
- Encourage recurring donations
- Check the confirmations
- Keep the donor engaged
Let’s take a closer look at each item on our nonprofit giving season checklist.
1. Easy to spot Donate buttons
A visitor to your website should be able to quickly find a button to donate now. Try a color that contrasts with the background to help make it pop off the page. Be clear about that button’s purpose by labeling it properly.
Consider two above-the-fold donation options. We strongly recommend a button in the header. Even better, make that header “sticky” so it never leaves the visitor’s screen. The second call-to-action (CTA) can be in content or within the main image at the top of your site.
We often use a more robust CTA by displaying donation amounts that encourage a higher average donation and make the checkout process easier.
2. Get rid of “offramps”
Once a potential donor decides to click on donate, don’t lose them with offramps (distractions to the goal). Don’t tell them more about your nonprofit or your great work. Just get their donation!
3. Don’t over collect donor information
Stay focused on the goal of collecting the donation. Only collect donor information you truly need. Are you asking questions like “where did you hear about us?” If so, do you really need to know? Are you using that information to grow your donor base or the Lifetime Value of a donor? If not, don’t ask!
Haven’s nonprofit marketing team prefers software that asks non-payment related questions AFTER the donation is collected.
4. Encourage recurring donations
After they’ve made their one-time donation, why not ask them if they’d consider helping your mission year-round?
Here’s an opportunity to briefly explain the impact a donor can have even after the holidays end.
The best nonprofit donation software dynamically adjusts this ask based on the donor’s initial amount. If they donated $100, we might ask for $50 monthly; if they donated $20, we might ask for a $5 monthly donation.
5. Check the confirmations
Does the donor get to a “thank you” page or message? Be sure to express your appreciation and remind them of the impact their donation will have.
Also be sure you are sending an email, and that the email arrives properly in your inbox. (Successful email delivery is critical, but not a topic for this article. If you need help with that, we’re here to offer solutions!)
The email should clearly show the donation amount and your organization’s basic information, including your tax ID since the donation may be tax deductible.
6. Keep the donor engaged
That first donation is the toughest one to collect.
Once you have a new donor, you now have the donor’s email address which allows you to reconnect with them down the road (assuming they consented to it!).
We recommend an onboarding series of emails for all new donors, reminding them of the impact they made with their initial donation. Don’t overwhelm them with too many emails, but keep them updated on your progress as a nonprofit organization, and of course, ask them to participate again!
A Successful Giving Tuesday is on the Horizon!
Following these few steps will help ensure your New Jersey or Philadelphia nonprofit is positioned for success, not just on Giving Tuesday, but year-round.
Would you like Haven Marketing to take a look at your nonprofit donation collection systems or marketing efforts? Contact us today for a free consultation and discussion on how we can help grow your donor base and increase the LTV of existing donors.
Haven, the Nonprofit Marketing Agency for NJ & Philadelphia
Haven Marketing focuses on nonprofits in New Jersey and Philadelphia. We’re local and part of the community. Our team of nonprofit marketing experts can help you with all aspects of marketing for your organization, including the technical (like donation collection software and integration to your website, Salesforce integration, site upgrades, and mail lists) as well as strategy and positioning (including reaching more donors and growing engagement with current donors).
Contact us today to learn how your local NJ and Philadelphia nonprofit marketing agency can help propel your mission forward.
