Increasing Donor Engagement with Giving Day Ambassadors

One of the major benefits of running a Giving Day is the opportunity to engage with a wider audience of potential donors. This is especially true during the early stages of introducing your Giving Day as a yearly activity because it engages donors in different ways that may not have been tried before. Giving Days are also very public - and this increased (and overwhelmingly positive) display of giving pulls in new donors through the excitement and enthusiasm displayed by those already taking part. And, if done well, the day is seen as a rousing success with new and current donors alike.

For most Giving Days, donor engagement comes from the steady stream of emails that are sent in the lead up to and on the Giving Day itself. These emails are usually sent by the Development Office - usually to those already engaged as a donor or alumni and who the team may already have a relationship with. On average, “Hubbub customers see 80% to 90% of their Giving Day donations coming directly from these emails.”

For those donors who are less engaged with the activities of the Development Office, and who perhaps have warmer relationships with fellow alumni, parents and other supporters, creating an Ambassadors programme that runs alongside your Giving Day can be a great way to welcome even more donors.

From running more than 200 Giving Days worldwide with a variety of customers throughout the education and charity sector, the organization knows that “Ambassadors programmes work best when they are well resourced.” Just like donors, it’s crucial that Ambassadors are taken on their own engagement journey - leading each one towards a collective action you want the larger group to take. And when combined with the Ambassadors add on within the Giving Day platform, “a well resourced and managed Ambassadors programme can increase donor numbers by 10% to 25%.”

Steps to Increase Donor Numbers Through Ambassador Engagement

• Identify target segments and communities. Recruit like-for-like Ambassadors to lead engagement efforts. For example - if you want more parents to donate towards Giving Day - recruit a well known or especially passionate parent (or a few parents) to be your Lead Ambassador for this community. Hearing a personal and authentic message from a like minded person who shares the donor’s experience can be especially motivating.

• Research and recruit Lead Ambassadors. Just like you would with major donors, research who fits the profile of being a Lead Ambassador and recruit them to lead the charge. This can include asking these individuals to pen an email or social media post for your Giving Day communications as well as reaching out to their own connections on the day itself to inspire their networks into action.

• Start recruitment one month before your Giving Day. This gives you enough time to start gathering interest and to use the influence of your Lead Ambassadors to recruit even more ambassadors (and donors).

• Make registration and management easy. If you are using the Giving Day platform, you can use the Ambassadors area to do this. The registration process is quick and easy - and once signed in all Ambassadors have access to a personalised online Ambassadors Toolkit to help make sharing information with their networks simple. There is also an Ambassadors leaderboard and a prizes wall to give your Ambassadors additional motivation to get sharing.

• Keep Ambassadors engaged with regular updates. Once your Ambassadors have come on board, keep them engaged with regular updates on how they can make a difference. You might send them weekly emails with reminders on actions they can take or even invite them to a virtual Giving Day Ambassadors ‘mixer’ where they can meet and hear from other Ambassadors involved with the day.

• Communicate impact on the day itself. Keep communicating with your Ambassadors - letting them know the impact of their efforts. With the data you receive from the Giving Day platform, you can let Ambassadors know exactly how many clicks they are generating and how many donations they have influenced.

• Continue engagement after the day. Once the day is over - continue to engage with your Ambassadors by thanking them for their involvement. Perhaps the head of your institution can create a quick thank you video especially for your Giving Day Ambassadors to help make them feel special about their impact and involvement in the day. And, as you would steward your donors, keep in touch with your Ambassadors in between Giving Days to keep them warm and engaged for the next Giving Day.

By following these steps you can start to engage with a whole new audience of donors - increasing the impact that your entire community can have during your Giving Day.