📆 Growing Sustainable Giving This GivingTuesday

Let’s imagine a world in which generosity has a day. Not a holiday for deals or consumption, but one collective moment carved out for shared humanity and generosity. That world already exists — and it started less than a decade and a half ago.

GivingTuesday started with simple roots at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City. It was a bold experiment – a “Giving Tuesday” immediately following the Thanksgiving weekend, aimed at redirecting the energy of post-holiday momentum toward generosity.

Today, GivingTuesday is a worldwide phenomenon, with recorded movements in more than 100 countries. In 2024, U.S. donors alone gave $3.6 billion.

I’ve written in the past about the power of invented holidays – shared moments that can shape us, both individually and as a community. GivingTuesday is a case in point, and I’m grateful for its impact on generosity. 

But GivingTuesday is not just a single-day surge. It is also a turning point in how donors think about giving — especially recurring giving.

GivingTuesday and Sustainable Giving

One of the most exciting developments over the years of growth and impact is the rise of donors choosing to start a monthly gift on GivingTuesday.

The data tell a compelling story. During the month of GivingTuesday, Abby Jarvis at Neon One found that 12% of all new monthly gifts are initiated on GivingTuesday itself, suggesting that donors are disproportionately primed to begin recurring commitments on that one day. And once they do, the majority don’t stop — more than 80% of donors who start a recurring gift on GivingTuesday go on to make an additional gift before year’s end.

This shift is recasting what it means to be generous: not just large one-time gifts, but steady, sustainable partnerships.

It’s no coincidence that the founding of GivingTuesday dates back to 2012 and the rise of another trend – the subscription economy, driven by companies like Netflix and Amazon. As consumers have increasingly adopted subscriptions, their donor behavior has been shaped, and the simultaneous rise in prominence of GivingTuesday has only served to fuel that trend further.

In fact, sustainable giving is such a huge opportunity that Woodrow and the team at the GivingTuesday Data Commons did an analysis and estimated that "simply increasing the share of new donors who sign up for recurring gifts by five percentage points could add $10 billion a year to the sector. A 10-point increase could add $20 billion — putting U.S. nonprofits closer to recurring giving rates already seen in countries like Norway and Spain" – Growing Giving: How Nonprofits Can Unlock Billions in Generosity.

GivingTuesday is Uniquely Positioned

GivingTuesday is a uniquely ideal time for growing recurring giving. It's situated at a time when people are most likely to act generously, but it doesn't risk impacting single gifts at year-end because it feels separate from the traditional Christmas and calendar year-end windows. 

Since GivingTuesday provides such a significant opportunity, let’s close with four pieces of advice for growing sustainable giving this year. 

Four Insights to Grow Sustainable Giving This GivingTuesday

1. Start early, stay late.

The success of GivingTuesday also means that it can be a very crowded day in donors’ inboxes. In addition, the holidays are a busy time of year, and you don’t want donors to miss the chance to make an impact by waiting until the last minute to communicate with donors and prospects.

Consider starting messaging early to prime donors for the day weeks in advance. Prime would be donors with a message that essentially says, “GivingTuesday is approaching, and we don’t want you to miss it. Here’s what our specific need is this year, and how you can make an impact.”

You might even encourage them to give to your GivingTuesday campaign before the day itself – no reason to tell them to hold off on their gift until December 2. 

💡 Takeaway: Don’t wait for GivingTuesday to arrive—build momentum early and keep it going so your message stands out in the holiday noise

2. Lead with recurring. 

I’m seeing more and more organizations that are leading with sustainable giving as the primary ask at GivingTuesday. Like I write about in The Rise of Sustainable Giving, every recurring giving ask needs to have an ongoing value proposition. 

Your recurring ask needs to answer the question “If I am your ideal donor, why should I give to you, rather than some other organization, or not at all?” And it needs to make sense why you need their support on an ongoing basis. Why is that for you? How can you help donors see that they will be making an ongoing impact in the lives of those you serve?

💡 Takeaway: When you lead with recurring giving, you invite donors into an ongoing story of impact—not just a one-day act of generosity.

3. Incentivize conversion.

Donors give to make an impact, but recurring donations are a bigger commitment than one-time contributions. As donors are considering a recurring commitment, consider how you can encourage them to make that decision today. 

Can you secure a donor match so that the first gift for every new monthly donor will be doubled? Does your organization develop or provide materials that you can offer as a thank you for signing up? 

Don’t lead with the incentive, but an incentive can be the tipping point for a donor who is thinking about committing. 

💡 Takeaway: A well-timed incentive can be the gentle nudge that turns a donor’s intention into a lasting recurring commitment.

4. Leverage multiple channels.

Email is the workhorse for GivingTuesday, but that also means email inboxes will be crowded. Don’t shy away from email, but consider other channels as well:

✅ Website

✅ Social

✅ Mobile

✅ Direct Mail

✅ Influencers

✅ Events

✅ PR/Media

Consider what channels you might be able to use to get donors' and prospects’ attention during a busy time.

💡 Takeaway: GivingTuesday is inspiring generosity in unprecedented ways, with $3.6 billion given in 2024 alone. I’m optimistic for what this means for sustainable generosity in 2025 and beyond.

Until next week… Surf’s Up! 🌊

 - Dave