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4 New Giving Day Ideas
1. Set non-monetary challenges
The most effective fundraising challenge described involved a college president pledging to jump in the institution’s lake if students achieved 50% participation for their senior class gift. This approach generated significant engagement and visibility across the entire campus community.
Non-monetary challenges outperform traditional matched funding opportunities because they create emotional investment and organic sharing. Rather than relying on celebrity donors or large financial incentives, these challenges leverage institutional leadership and student enthusiasm to drive participation and awareness.
2. Challenge a rival institution
Institutions can harness competitive spirit by positioning giving days as friendly competitions with comparable or local rivals. Alumni demonstrate strong pride in their institutions meeting fundraising targets, making inter-institutional competition a powerful motivator.
The College of William & Mary, which has natural institutional rivalries from its history, received 2,005 gifts during a 24-hour period using this approach. Sporting rivalries extend beyond athletics into fundraising, where donors enthusiastically support outperforming peer institutions.
3. Let ambassadors designate a big gift
Social media ambassadors amplify giving day reach and messaging effectiveness. Rather than offering standard incentive prizes, institutions can create designated prize funds that ambassadors choose to allocate toward specific causes.
This strategy deepens ambassador engagement by allowing them to direct resources meaningfully. The University of Sydney implemented “supercharge” prize funds, demonstrating how ambassadors can feel greater impact through designation choices rather than receiving generic rewards.
4. Who needs a big matched fund? Set lots of smaller challenges
Multiple smaller challenges prove more effective than securing a single large matched gift annually. Smaller challenges enable diverse communications strategies, allowing institutions to craft personalized appeals to different community segments.
Segmented challenges target staff, students, young alumni, and other demographic groups differently, increasing the likelihood that each donor encounters relevant appeals. This approach generates numerous touchpoints with the same donor across different challenges, improving conversion rates for first-time givers.
The article references Hubbub’s free Ultimate Giving Day Guide for additional planning support.
