.png)
Today is Giving Tuesday, the “day of global giving” which is celebrated every year on the Tuesday following Black Friday (and Thanksgiving, in the US). The day was founded by New York’s 92nd Street Y in 2012, and has gained in popularity each year, now recognised internationally. The purpose of the day is to celebrate giving in all its forms, whether that be monetary, through fundraising, time, through volunteering, passion, through campaigning, etc.
#GivingTuesday is a great opportunity for charities and not-for-profit organisations to engage with and celebrate donors, highlight their fundraising campaigns, and raise awareness for their wonderful services and cause that fundraising can support.
But of course individuals are ready to support, and give generously, to causes close to their heart every day of the year. Moreover, donations and fundraising remain incredibly important for many arts organisations’ revenue generation strategies so today, we’d like to share a series of ideas and resources for fundraising that you can use on Giving Tuesday and beyond!
The Basics: set up a donation product and prompt during purchase
The foundation of fundraising is of course the ability to collect donations! Check out our guide to setting up donation products within Ticketsolve, personalising your donation page, linking to donate from your website, and prompting customers to donate during their ticket purchasing process.
You can also find our guide to reporting on Gift Aid here, allowing UK organisations to boost donations by 25%through tax reclaim .
Focus on Fundraising: Check out our Academy Session
Check out our fundraising-focused Academy session, in which Conor and Natalie take you through how to create donation products in Ticketsolve for your next fundraising campaign, including adding a gift aid declaration for UK customers.
They also show how to use the ‘prompt’ feature to make your donation product appear during the customer’s checkout journey.
Fundraising & Philanthropy Considerations: The Whitepaper
In our Fundraising Considerations whitepaper David Johnson of Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy shows us some of the most important considerations to successfully implement campaigns for your organisation during times of challenges and crisis.
He takes us through the practicalities of managing and maintaining important relationships with supporters, audience segments, and members, and crucially - how to make the ask.
Community at the Heart with Farnham Maltings
Discover our case study produced with Surrey-based Farnham Maltings, which offers an insight into how Farnham Maltings put the community at the heart of everything they do - including their fundraising campaigns. Find out how they were able to raise £70,000 from donations and fundraising campaigns through Ticketsolve right when they needed it most.
We also spoke to Farnham Maltings’ Director, Gavin Stride and Communications and Marketing Manager Niki Hanmer to delve deeper into this community focus, and the successes of their Spring Forward fundraising campaign on episode 6 of The Arts and Everything In Between podcast - including practical tips and tricks on how to run a similar project.
Collecting donations for an external cause
Even if you are not a charity or not-for-profit organisation, you may want to fundraise for a cause. This was the case for Ipswich Theatres, who used their platform to raise money for the British Red Cross Ukraine Appeal.
Discover the case study to find out how they used Ticketsolve’s Donation functionality and Gift Aid management, to prompt customers to donate during their online booking raising over £18,000 in total.
Further Resources from Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy
Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy, led by Cause4 with consortium partners the Arts Marketing Association (AMA) and the University of Leeds (UoL), aims to transform arts fundraising through building skills, sharing best practices, and fostering leadership.
The Programme seeks to develop an enterprising, fundraising culture across the arts and cultural sector by generating more private income, ensuring skills development, and achieving sector-wide professionalism.
The programme provides resources, e-learning opportunities and training for organisations, covering everything from the use of technology to the ethics of fundraising. Discover more here.
Giving Tuesday celebrates the fact that the simple act of giving makes an immeasurable difference. We hope this post has sparked some new ideas and provided helpful tools to make generosity easy for your passionate supporters. Remember, fundraising is not just for one day - it is for every day when you build meaningful, community-centred relationships.
