GivingTuesday is coming, and however you’re approaching it (a full campaign, a one day push, the kickoff to your year end fundraising) it only works if people actually know about it.
That’s where your GivingTuesday email comes in.
Social media gets a lot of the spotlight this time of year, but email is still doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes. It’s how you recruit fundraisers, keep your community in the loop, and nudge donors toward that final “yes, I’ll give.” No star power required. Just a message that lands in the right inbox at the right moment.
Let’s walk through the three types of GivingTuesday emails you need, the elements that make them work, and a few ways to make the whole thing feel a lot less like guesswork this year.
The Three GivingTuesday Emails You Need
1. Informational Emails: Spread the Word
Think of these as your campaign’s save the date. They tell your community what’s happening, why it matters, and how they can be part of it.
- Who receives them: Your full email list
- What’s inside: When GivingTuesday is happening, what you’re raising money for, and what donations will make possible
- When to send: About ten days before GivingTuesday, with a reminder on Cyber Monday
People can’t support a campaign they don’t know exists. GivingTuesday lands right in the middle of the busiest fundraising season of the year, so an early, clear heads up is what gets you noticed before the noise sets in.
2. Personal Fundraiser Emails: Recruit and Rally
Peer-to-peer fundraisers do a lot of the work for you. They tap into their own networks, share their own stories, and bring in donors you’d never reach otherwise. These emails keep them informed, motivated, and feeling appreciated.
- Who receives them: Potential and committed personal fundraisers
- What’s inside: Recruiting messages, encouragement, logistics, and updates
Before the campaign:
- Send your first recruiting email about six weeks out
- Follow up about a week later, and keep recruiting as needed
- Send a welcome email as people join (this one’s easy to automate)
- About three weeks out, send their fundraising toolkit
- A quick thank you around Thanksgiving goes a long way
- One more “here we go” message on Cyber Monday
During GivingTuesday:
- Share milestone updates
- Congratulate fundraisers who hit their goals
- Encourage them to keep sharing
After GivingTuesday:
- Thank them
- Share the final results
3. Day-Of Solicitations: Inspire and Ask
These are your main event emails, the ones that ask directly and remind everyone that today is the day.
- Who receives them: Your general audience (leave out your peer-to-peer fundraisers so they’re not getting asked twice)
- What’s inside: A story that shows impact, paired with a clear ask
- When to send: Three times, spaced through the day (morning, afternoon, evening). If you’re close to your goal by evening, a fourth “final push” email works well too
If you can, hold back from sending another ask to people who already gave that day. Nobody wants to feel like a line item.
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Five Elements of a GivingTuesday Email That Actually Works
No matter which type you’re sending, these five things make the difference between an email that gets skimmed and one that gets acted on.
1. Results-Focused
Donors want to see what their gift actually does. Instead of “please donate,” try “$25 covers a week of school supplies for one student.” Specific numbers tied to specific outcomes make giving feel real and immediate.
Tying impact to a donation amount encourages donors to give more confidently and generously.
2. Donor-Centric
This email landed in their inbox with their name on it, so make it about them. Skip the “Dear Friend” openers and center the donor in the story itself. The best GivingTuesday emails read less like an announcement and more like an invitation to be part of something.
Thistle Farms invites donors to make a meaningful impact through a matching donation, and shows exactly what their gift makes possible.
3. Urgent, Without the Pressure
GivingTuesday already has a built in deadline. Your job is to make that deadline feel real in the moment someone opens your email. A few lines that work well:
- “Just three hours left to make your GivingTuesday gift”
- “We’re so close, your gift today can push us over the top”
- “Help us reach our goal before midnight”
Urgency isn’t about pushing people. It’s about giving them a reason to act now instead of later, when “later” usually means never.
4. Tell a Story
A short, specific story beats a long, general one every time. One person, one moment, one clear picture of what changed. That’s what people remember and what moves them to give.
5. A Clear Call to Action
Every email should point to exactly one next step: donate, join the campaign, or share it. Make that step as easy as possible. Link straight to your donation page, and keep the ask front and center instead of buried at the bottom.
A clear call to action in a bright colored button helps donors understand exactly what you want them to do.
What’s Changed Since Last GivingTuesday
The fundraising world is evolving rapidly, and a few things are different this year. Here are a few worth building into your plan.
Texting is no longer optional. Email open rates dip during the holiday rush simply because everyone’s inbox is flooded. A GivingTuesday text reminder the morning of, or a quick thank you the moment someone gives, catches people email might miss.
CauseVox’s built in SMS and email marketing makes it easy to connect with supporters right where your donor records live.
Segmentation matters more than ever. A donor who gave last month shouldn’t get the same generic appeal as someone who’s never given before. The more your emails reflect what someone’s actually done (their giving history, whether they opened your last email, whether they’re already a fundraiser), the more likely they are to respond.
With CauseVox Messaging you can easily segment donors and send targeted emails directly from the platform where all your donor data lives.
Speed of follow up counts. A thank you that shows up a day or two late feels like an afterthought. A thank you that lands the moment a gift comes in feels personal. With CauseVox you can set up automated, customizable donation reciepts so your donors feel seen and appreciated.
But that isn’t where it ends. With CauseVox’s CRM you can continue to steward and engage donors far beyond GivingTuesday, turning one time givers into loyal supporters.
Make This GivingTuesday Easier on Yourself
The strategy above works. It’s worked for nonprofits big and small, and it’ll work for you. The harder part is usually the execution: writing every email, timing every send, and keeping your fundraisers and donors from feeling like they’re getting the same message twice.
That’s the part worth simplifying, however you get there. Whether it’s a shared calendar, a set of templates you reuse every year, or a platform like CauseVox that keeps your donor data and your emails in the same place, give yourself a system so GivingTuesday is about your donors and your mission, not about scrambling to hit send.
Ready to make every donor feel known and see how CauseVox can connect all of your fundraising tools?
