10 Steps to Give STL Day Success

• Each Training Session was sponsored by the St. Louis Community Foundation to help give your organization the resources it needs to succeed on Give STL Day.
• The sessions, running from January to the end of March, include of a variety of topics: innovative strategies for social media marketing, approaches to fund development in an election year, beneficial donor stewardship practices, and more.
• Training sessions coming up include “What is Give STL Day & How to Make the Most of it for Your Nonprofit” and a “Peer-to-Peer Training Session – Learn the Best Practices & Strategies from Give STL Day Veterans.” Click the links to sign up!
• The more skills you learn to prepare for Give STL Day could mean more money earned for your organization.

 

2. Gather a Passionate Team

• Gathering donations can be an overwhelming task. With the right team, however, the job can seem less daunting. Some important roles may include social media manager, fundraiser(s), and a donor stewardship advisor. The most important question to ask yourself is who will help your organization have a successful Give STL Day?

3. Use the Give STL Day Nonprofit Marketing Toolkit

• Simply posting text or previously used graphics can get old. Use our graphics or create your own with our icons to make your marketing campaign stand out among other organizations. Having visually pleasing images on your social media can help attract new donors to your cause or invigorate your same audience to pay attention to your material again.
• Instead of taking the time to make your own graphics for Give STL Day, you can access our pre-made ones here.

 

4. Create a Social Media Plan

• A social media campaign is uncomplicated way of streamlining dates for social media posts. A month before Give STL Day, reminder posts should go out at least once a week – a week before the Day, posts should go out at least once a day. Ask questions like who your audience is and why they should care before posting. Find out more helpful tips about social media planning here.
• The easiest way to plan your communications is through a website that your entire team has access to. Asana is a great resource for planning your marketing, delegating tasks to your team and checking off a daily to do list.
• Make sure to use our reminder graphics that tell your audience when Give STL Day is one month away, three weeks away, two weeks away, one week away, and tomorrow. You can find them here.

 

5. Use the #GiveSTLDay Hashtag

• An easy way for donors to find your cause is through searching the #GiveSTLDay hashtag. Using the hashtag, you can also look for other nonprofit’s social media campaigns to find creative new ideas for your posts. Make sure that your nonprofit uses this tactic to be seen by potential donors!

 

6. Determine a Sensible Goal for Fundraising

• Fundraising goals can be challenging to determine. The key to fundraising for Give STL Day is as follows: small gifts add up to a large impact on your organization. Around 75% of donations on Give STL Day are less than $100. Making a goal that people can identify with is vital to your nonprofit’s success.
• A lot of times, smaller goals can encourage more donations because they are attainable. Stating the direct impact of a donation can also be beneficial – if an animal rescue nonprofit states that $1,000 can buy lifesaving medicine for 10 dogs, which in turn informs the donor of the immediate impact of their donation. Above all, your fundraising goal should be a reasonable amount that ultimately depends on your goals and the amount of effort your organization dedicates to Give STL Day.

 

7. Encourage Your Donors to Create Their Own Fundraisers

• By encouraging your donors to fundraise, many more opportunities for funds are available. These campaigns are the perfect way for donors to show support for the causes they are passionate about during Give STL Day. In 2019, fundraising campaigns raised $93,080.71 for local nonprofits.
• You can create a fundraising campaign in five easy steps. Click on the link to learn more.

 

8. Try to Find Matching Fund Donors

• The best way to gain matching fund donors is simply to ask. Reaching out to your current donors is a great start – but you should always communicate this idea in terms of their donation’s direct impact.

9. Plan for the Actual Day

• Social media can be the greatest tool for success on Give STL Day. As much as it’s important to prepare your audience before the Day, you also need to have a large social media presence throughout those 24-hours, as well.
• Hootsuite can be a valuable resource for scheduling social media posts. Facebook also has publishing tools to help you schedule posts ahead of the Day on their site. Take some time before May 7^th to plan your posts throughout the day to maximize the chances that your audience sees it.

10. Celebrate and Thank Your Donors

• Donor stewardship is an important tool to keep new donors after Give STL Day. Acknowledging the new – and veteran – donors with a simple handwritten ‘thank you’ card or email can help keep these fundraisers year-round. Also, letting donors know what your organization did with the funds can help them feel like their money went directly towards a good cause.

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For more information about Give STL Day, contact info@stlgives.org or (314) 588-8200. All of us the St. Louis Community Foundation look forward to your participation on Give STL Day!