How Separating a Single-Day Donor Match Fundraising Event from Giving Tuesday Increased a Food Bank’s Performance for Both

Challenge

A food bank in Ohio experienced declining donor gifts and revenue during its combined donor match day and Giving Tuesday promotion, despite increased email frequency and an earlier campaign launch.

Solution

Based on data analysis, TrueSense Marketing recommended separating its biannual donor match day from Giving Tuesday promotions. We also reduced the email campaign length,  focused on power hour and extended opportunities for the donor match day campaign, emphasized the match opportunity, and used a visual, real-time thermometer based on the match goal to visualize goal progress for Giving Tuesday.

Results

Treating the single-day donor match fundraising event and Giving Tuesday as separate events allowed for a more focused approach to each and better capitalized on each campaign’s strengths. The reinforcement of the power hour and the shorter campaign length cultivated a sense of urgency and increased donor participation during the single-day event. The real-time thermometer and clear communication about the match opportunity significantly contributed to surpassing the campaign goal for Giving Tuesday.