If you’ve spent any part of the past several weeks feeling helpless, you’re not alone—it’s so easy to get overwhelmed right now. But at Firespring, we’re not letting those feelings or this crisis we’re facing define us; in fact, we’re doing the opposite. We’re choosing empowerment. Now is a time to band together and become a stronger force than the one that’s crippling communities around the world. Raise more money by joining the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative for your #GivingTuesdayNow page.
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Firespring has partnered with our friends at Nonprofit Hub and Do More Good to create the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative. This project is part of the #GivingTuesdayNow movement on May 5 that’s been created to mobilize the world as an emergency response to the overwhelming need caused by COVID-19. This will be an exciting day of giving, healing and unity—something we all need to get our country back on its feet.
Through the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative, we want to leverage the reach and power of our collective communities to help nonprofits all over the U.S. find funding so they not only survive this crisis, but thrive, even in the midst of the challenges we’re facing. It’s possible! And we’re putting the steps in place to make it happen.
I know it’s a sprint to get your #GivingTuesdayNow campaign up and running and ready to engage and activate supporters by May 5, but we’re running right along with you, and we’re here to help empower and support you with the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative.
Here are three things that will set you up for success:
1. Personalize your free #GivingTuesdayNow page on our platform.
Join us to be a part of something bigger than any of us could accomplish alone. Here’s what to have ready to add to your page so that it’s optimized and open for donations on May 5.
- Your personalized URL for your #GivingTuesdayNow page.
- Your organization’s logo.
- A short description of your project or organization. Just one sentence—a quick explanation of your cause or mission.
- A longer description of what you will use the donations for and how your organization will make an impact using those funds.
- Images and videos. Tell your story visually and emotionally by engaging visitors with compelling images and videos.
- Donation amount tiers. You can include up to four.
2. Spread the word with social media.
Turn your key supporters into advocates by asking them to strategically time their donations and then share them out to their networks on Facebook and Twitter. On your #GivingTuesdayNow page, you can customize what’s seen on Facebook and Twitter when a donor shares their donation on those channels; you can add both a custom image and some custom text.
Example: “I participated in #GivingTuesdayNow and helped [organization] meet their needs and make an impact. Here’s how you can too!” This will help you not only for this specific initiative, but it’ll expand your reach and raise awareness for future campaigns. And when you create your campaign page on our platform, you’ll have exposure to audiences you might not otherwise access.
3. Redirect the donate button and donation page on your website to your #GivingTuesdayNow page.
Promote your nonprofit’s #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative page on the front of your website with a direct link to your page, driving traffic to where you need it most—a donation page that’s designed to engage and convert.
If you’re thinking, “Why? Why should I participate in the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative?” that’s a great question. And I have four equally great answers for you:
- Matching funds. Nonprofits are more successful when using matching funds to fuel online giving; in fact, 84% of donors are more likely to give when a match fund is offered (according to GiveBIG data). As part of our initiative, we’ll have a match fund that will maximize the overall donations pledged to any organization. Nonprofits will receive a proportional share of the matching funds and ultimately raise more money than if they were launching a #GivingTuesdayNow campaign in a silo.
- The backing of a national network. This initiative is driven through the extensive and engaged networks of Nonprofit Hub, Do More Good and Firespring through a dedicated partner program. What does this mean? The participating nonprofits are going to get a lot of eyes on their campaign page and an increased awareness for their mission, reaching a wider audience than they could on their own. Joining a vibrant initiative like this makes it more likely that your supporters will convert.
- A quick and easy campaign page. It’s so easy to set up and manage a donation page using Firespring’s giving day platform. Since getting ready for #GivingTuesdayNow by May 5 is a quick turn, this sets you up for the best chance for a successful day of accepting donations.
- Free training from Firespring. We’re a Certified B Corporation®, and we’ve been helping nonprofits optimize their online presence for over 20 years. We’re uniquely positioned to help you leverage your community and increase results, and our marketing strategists are ready to equip you with everything you need to raise more money and awareness on #GivingTuesdayNow. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures; we’re taking them, and highly encourage you to join us and take advantage of our expertise in the online space.
Register your nonprofit for the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative to make the most of this exciting global day of giving—we can’t wait to see how this movement empowers both donors and nonprofits everywhere to rise up and impact the lives and communities in need.
And if you need help learning how to register or set up your page, this video from our SVP of client experience, Molly Coke, will walk you through all the easy steps. Let’s do this together. We’re here for you.