Tired of running the same campaign year after year? Here are 10 fresh Giving Tuesday ideas to bring in more donations this year and some real-life examples to inspire you.
Join the fundraising movement! Join the fundraising movement!Giving Tuesday will be here before we know it.
If you’re feeling stuck trying to decide how to make your campaign stand out and inspire more giving, you’re certainly not alone.
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving powered by social media, collaboration, and campaigning. #GivingTuesday was created back in 2012 by the team at the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y – a cultural center in New York City – and has become a global philanthropic movement.
In 2026, Giving Tuesday falls on December 1st, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Giving Tuesday 2025 saw a record-breaking $4 billion in donations in the U.S. alone.
As competition for donor attention grows every year, I’ve put together a list of 10 ways you can inspire more donors to give this Giving Tuesday.
As I share these 10 Giving Tuesday ideas, I’ll also share some real-life examples of how Donorbox nonprofits used them.
These examples are pulled from Donorbox’s Giving Tuesday Playbook – a free, downloadable resource that gives you a play-by-play look at how seven organizations brought in significant Giving Tuesday funding.
One way to motivate donors is to show them how much further their donation will go toward making a real difference. That’s where a matching gift comes in.
For example, the Friends of Loudoun County Animal Services uses a matching gift to increase donations during their Giving Tuesday campaign.
This approach allowed them to reach 87% of their goal, with a $132 average donation size.
But securing a matching gift is easier said than done. To identify prospects for a potential matched gift, first ask yourself if you have any of the following:
Note that a matching gift doesn’t always have to be cash. An in-kind gift of the same value can also motivate donors. For example, a local tech company could pledge to donate ten computers to your school to match cash donations of $10,000.
Tip: Corporate gift matching programs, where employers match the donations their employees make, are also a great way to expand your Giving Tuesday fundraising. Use an easy tool, like Donorbox’s integration with Double the Donation, to encourage donors to complete the process to claim their matched gift.
With relatively short-lived campaigns, showing donors real-time progress creates a sense of urgency that motivates giving.
Display a goal meter on your donation/fundraising page that shows how far you have to go to reach your goal.
In addition to inspiring donors to act, a goal meter inspires social proof by showing potential donors that others are supporting your campaign. Plus, donors can immediately see the impact their donations make in real time.
Peer-to-peer fundraising has incredible potential as a Giving Tuesday idea. What’s an often-underutilized, powerful resource you have just sitting around? Your top supporters!
Those dedicated, loyal supporters (volunteers and donors) are a fundraising multiplier for your Giving Tuesday campaign. Ask them to fundraise on your behalf, using a platform like Donorbox that makes it easy.
With Donorbox Peer-to-Peer, they can create their own fundraising pages where they share stories, pictures, and videos. Any donations they collect will flow directly to your account.
Here’s an example where a supporter created a fundraising page to raise money for Capitol Creative Alliance‘s campaign.
Create Your Giving Tuesday Peer-to-Peer Campaign
You might think your best bet on Giving Tuesday is to send an appeal to the largest possible audience. However, I’ve seen the opposite play out to great success for some organizations.
For example, H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online targets people who have used their services, highlighting major organizational milestones over the past year.
In short, they focus their messaging on the people who were most impacted by their services throughout the year. As a result, they see an average of 653 donations every Giving Tuesday.
Small nonprofits like churches and schools with small Giving Tuesday campaign budgets simply can’t afford a large-scale, be-everything-for-everyone campaign. You must be strategic.
By focusing your audience with targeted messaging, you can decrease your cost-per-dollar-raised and increase your overall campaign success.
Giving Tuesday is designed to be a collaborative effort, making it the perfect opportunity for deepening connections with other organizations and businesses through partnerships.
Collaboration will increase your reach and build your brand awareness. With that comes more donations, more individuals pledging to volunteer, and more people aware of your nonprofit.
Some examples of fruitful Giving Tuesday partnerships include:
Remember telethons? They’re still used by nonprofits like public broadcasting networks for a reason.
Consider hosting your own telethon via YouTube Live or Twitch to encourage donations on Giving Tuesday. Your program should include interesting and compelling storytelling segments, real testimonials, and maybe even some fun motivation, like swag.
Include a link to your Donorbox crowdfunding page and use text-to-give to make giving even easier.
This unique Giving Tuesday idea will help you stand out from the crowd and motivate giving.
This Giving Tuesday idea goes beyond the day. As you capture generosity on Giving Tuesday, work to secure more funding in the future by promoting your monthly giving program.
We all know the stats – monthly donors give 42% more annually than one-time donors. Especially during times of economic uncertainty, many donors are more comfortable giving a little bit every month than making one large, one-time donation.
Start by sharing how your monthly donors make an impact on your organization. What has your monthly giving program allowed you to do? What future programming will your monthly giving program support?
Then, ensure you have an easy way to upgrade one-time donors, like Donorbox’s Recurring Donation Upsell feature. It provides a gentle prompt to encourage donors to change their one-time gift into monthly support.
Inspiring donors can feel especially hard on a day with so much competition. That’s where incentivizing donations with unique merchandise can set you apart.
GREY2K USA, a nonprofit serving greyhounds, tried their hand at unique merch during their 2024 Giving Tuesday campaign.
This incentivized giving larger gifts to reach the t-shirt and notecard tier, helping them raise a whopping $88,000 for this campaign alone.
Sites like Bonfire take the stress out of offering merchandise by allowing donors to purchase print-to-order t-shirts, tote bags, mugs, and more.
This Giving Tuesday idea is easier said than done. Part of what makes fundraising on this day so difficult is that you’re competing against a lot of noise, both on social media and in email inboxes.
“Don’t get lost in the noise,” Samantha Swaim, CEO of Swaim Strategies, shared as her expert advice for Giving Season.
Another approach? Choosing something unique to your organization and doubling down on your storytelling.
Monadnock Conservancy did something similar one year.
Our message was all about celebrating our longtime executive director and his significant accomplishments…we clearly tied his accomplishments to the ways in which people’s lives were improved.” – Lindsay Taflas, Development Director
This approach helped them stand out and raise two times more than they planned.
So, as you plan your campaign, stop to consider the following questions:
These guiding questions can help you craft a compelling story that differentiates you and drives donations.
The biggest Giving Tuesday mistake? Staying quiet on the other 364 days of the year.
Pets Bring Joy takes a different approach.
We try to stay in touch with our supporters throughout the year so as to deepen their connection with our rescue mission. They are present for #GivingTuesday because we are present throughout the remainder of the year.” – Alyson Dunn, Community Outreach Coordinator
This method is partially why they see an average of 120 donations raised every Giving Tuesday. They go beyond fundraising on the day and work to build year-round relationships.
So, what does that mean in practice? It means your work doesn’t end on Giving Tuesday.
For a full breakdown of your post-Giving Tuesday checklist, check out this blog post. Here’s a general checklist to ensure you’re stewarding relationships and converting one-time donors into ongoing supporters.
This idea is all about taking a slow-and-steady approach to cultivating Giving Tuesday donations, and it’s a great practice for better fundraising success throughout the year.
Discover unconventional strategies and a specific timeline that maximize your Giving Tuesday impact. In this video, Darren from M3 Media and Jena from Donorbox break down their three-phase framework.
Unfortunately, there are no easy hacks when it comes to Giving Tuesday campaigns.
You might have to push through some trial and error to identify the strategies and ideas that work best for you, your mission, and your audience.
If I had to summarize the takeaway from these 10 ideas, I’d say to focus on the following:
As always, Donorbox is here to be your Giving Tuesday fundraising partner. From robust crowdfunding and peer-to-peer functionality to in-person fundraising and beyond, explore all the features you need to manage your campaign.
Sign up to start fundraising today.
Raviraj heads the sales and marketing team at Donorbox. His growth-hacking abilities have helped Donorbox boost fundraising efforts for thousands of nonprofit organizations.
Join the fundraising movement! Join the fundraising movement!
