Giving Day | Secrets to Success!

This page will be updated as more Giving Day Resources come to light. To share your institution's best practices and/or content, please email support@livealumni.com.

With the new year just around the corner, we know that Higher Ed Institutions are hard at work preparing for their Giving Day. No matter how big (or small) your school is, a Giving Day is an ideal way to offer both new and established donors an exciting reason to support your institution!

LiveAlumni is proud to have worked with hundreds of institutions that have shattered their Giving Day Goals! Whether you are looking for a bit of guidance, or you're just curious as to what successful strategies we have seen, you're in the right place. Check out our top best practices for a successful Giving Day:

1. Plan and Prepare:

Giving Days are a powerful and profitable fundraising strategy that requires appropriate planning. From outreach strategies to setting realistic goals - the most important best practice is to create a clear plan in advance. When approaching your Giving day, the following action items are a great place to start:

• Determine Goals early on (What does success look like?)

• Be aware of your timeline

• Create a list of tasks and assign ownership

• Determine hard deadlines

• Determine required marketing material

2. Marketing Material:

Stellar marketing material will make or break your campaign. LiveAlumni users with BIG success recommend paying special attention to the following:

3. Update your Results Regularly:

Keeping your campaign viewers up to date on progress is key to maintaining momentum. Make sure you are sharing updates at least once a week on your website, social media, and email campaigns. Sharing both wins and setbacks is a simple way to make your supporters feel like they are part of the journey! Pro Tip: Consider adding a 'Subscribe to updates' button on your website and emails. This way you are keeping supporters in the loop while capturing up-to-date contact information!

4. Exposure, Exposure, Exposure:

The more people you can reach, the better! Urge your community to spread awareness on your Giving Day and share why giving to your institution is meaningful to them. This includes corporate relationships as well. To give your community a strong, meaningful story, consider the following:

• Give your audience a meaningful 'hook' to share - Why should their network care?

• Include contact information on all messaging - LiveAlumni users mention having readily available contact information on all content allows local press to reach out if interested, resulting in a super-boost of exposure.

• Develop a hashtag - Group your community's posts together and make content easier to find on social media.

5. Cultivate Beyond Giving Day:

When Giving Day comes to an end, a 'Thank You' is not where your relationship with donors should end. Many LiveAlumni users share updates 6+ months down the line to let donors know how their funds have been used. Sharing a quick story makes your collaborators feel good about their gift and gets them prepared to give again next year. It's a win-win!

6. LiveAlumni For More Giving Day Wins:

Fundraising and alumni giving are key to the financial future of most of our users. As Giving Day approaches, reach out to our industry-leading customer success team. As always, LiveAlumni is here to help you every step of the way.

For more information on using LiveAlumni to meet your Giving Day goals, contact support@livealumni.com