Non-Traditional Giving Days for Your Next Fundraiser
There’s a certain yearly cadence to nonprofit fundraising. Apart from raising emergency funds, many nonprofits rely on #GivingTuesday and end-of-year giving to generate the bulk of their individual donations. This means that through most of the year, the fundraising beat sounds more like a faint pulse. But you know that your need for funds is year-round.
So why not jumpstart your fundraising from individual donors this year by adding a non-traditional giving day to your fundraising calendar?
You won’t have to worry about cutting through the noise of competing causes during the crowded EOY giving season. And while you’ll still need to engage your board and create a gameplan, you can coordinate your fundraiser around a widely recognized day, month, or holiday that relates to your cause:
1. Schedule your fundraiser on a Holiday
What’s sweeter than a Valentine’s Day fundraiser? Or greener than rallying your supporters on St. Patrick’s Day?
Depending on your cause and audience, you can plan your next fundraiser on a holiday and incorporate the theme into your call-to-action. Fundraisers that launch on a holiday can be playful and upbeat and are a great opportunity to raise general funds. Be thoughtful when planning and make sure that your ask is appropriate in the context of the holiday. You can find a list of all the U.S. Holidays in 2022 here to get started.
2. Use awareness months for your fundraiser’s theme
Individual holidays don’t have to be the only source of inspiration for your next fundraiser. Consider the various awareness months that are observed in the U.S. to plan a monthlong peer-to-peer fundraising campaign:
February = Black History Month, American Heart Month, Oral Hygiene Awareness Month, Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Eating Disorder Awareness Month
March = Adolescent Self-Injury Awareness Month, National Athletic Training Month, International Black Women In Jazz & The Arts Month, Brain Injury Awareness Month, Irish-American Heritage Month, National Music in Our Schools Month, National Nutrition Month, National Social Work Month, Women’s History Month, Youth Art Month
April = International Guitar Month, Autism Awareness Month, Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Financial Literacy Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, National Poetry Month, National Volunteer Month, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Stress Awareness Month, National Fair Housing Month
May = Tourettes Awareness Month, ALS Awareness Month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Lupus Awareness Month, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, National Arthritis Month, National Bike Month, National Foster Care Month, National Guide Dog Month, Brain Tumor Awareness Month, National Community Action Month
June = African-American Music Appreciation Month, Alzheimer’s Disease and Brain Awareness Month, LGBT Pride Month, National Caribbean-American Heritage Month, PTSD Awareness Month
July = National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month, National Black Family Month
August = National Hair Loss Awareness Month, National Breastfeeding Awareness Month, National Immunization Awareness Month
September = Classical Music Month, National Alopecia Awareness Month, National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Literacy Month, National Piano Month, National Suicide Prevention & Awareness Month, Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness Month
3. Consider Cause Days to Kickoff Your Fundraiser
Chances are that there’s already a dedicated day for celebrating the cause you care about. From encouraging your supporters to go green on Earth Day to striking a chord with supporters on World Radio Day, you can schedule the launch of your next fundraiser on a related cause day.
Last year the folks at Fundraising IP compiled a list of cause days. In April alone, there are numerous cause-related days to inspire you:
2nd: World Autism Awareness Day — #WorldAutismAwarenessDay
3rd: Good Deeds Day — #GoodDeedsDay
7th: World Health Day — #WorldHealthDay
14th: National Dolphin Day — #NationalDolphinDay
15th: World Art Day — #WorldArtDay
20th: Volunteer Recognition Day — #VolunteerRecognitionDay
22nd: Earth Day — #EarthDay
25th: World Malaria Day — #WorldMalariaDay
29th: International Dance Day — #InternationalDanceDay
You can check out their full list of cause days here.
4. Create your own giving day!
You can also create your own yearly giving day. Consider dates that are important to your work and your donors. It might be the day you incorporated as a nonprofit or the date of an important milestone in your history.
As with any other fundraiser, you’ll want to set a clear goal, come up with a list of prospective donors, and begin outreach early. By getting creative with your calendar, you’ll be able to reach supporters when there’s less noise and run a fundraiser that stands out.
Do you have your 2022 fundraising calendar ready to go? Are you thinking outside the box of traditional giving days this year? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
