Giving Tuesday: You Got the Gift. Now Build the Relationship.
Giving Tuesday 2025, set for Tuesday, December 2, arrives during a uniquely challenging time for nonprofit fundraising. With donor acquisition rates continuing to fall and economic pressures impacting giving behavior, nonprofits must evolve beyond one-day fundraising pushes. It's no longer enough to generate gifts. Organizations need to focus on building relationships that extend well beyond December 31. In fact, success on Giving Tuesday is no longer measured by dollars alone. It's about what happens afterward.
Why a Different Approach is Needed in 2025 Based on the Fundraising Effectiveness Project:
Donor retention and engagement flatlined.
Micro donors ($1-$100) dropped 10% year-over-year.
Lapsed donor reactivation has slowed across the sector and dropped 7.9% year-over-year.
63% of Giving Tuesday donors will never give again without intentional follow-up.
Fundraising now requires a more thoughtful, relationship-centered approach to Giving Tuesday. One that includes not only effective appeals but also the strategic follow-through needed to turn momentary generosity into long-term support.
What We Know About Giving Tuesday Donors
Motivation is event-driven, not mission-driven. Many donors give because it's a trending moment on social media, not because they feel deeply connected to the organization.
Goal: your nonprofit needs to spark a connection with the new donor.
They tend to be new. For many nonprofits, Giving Tuesday introduces completely new supporters who haven’t had any prior touchpoints with the organization.
Goal: despite already receiving a donation, your nonprofit needs to put this donor into a cultivation campaign and focus on education and awareness before asking for additional support.
Their "why" is often missing. Unlike regular donors who have been cultivated over time, Giving Tuesday donors often give without a deep understanding of your mission or programs.
Goal: It’s critical to establish the “why” with these donors in order to re-convert and keep them.
They are highly digital. 77% of donations come through digital channels including email, mobile, and social media. These donors live online, which is where your follow-up should happen too.
Goal: Prep a series of educational social media posts to begin the cultivation process with expected Giving Tuesday participants.
The Real Goal: Secure the Second Gift
Retention, not just acquisition, should be the guiding principle behind your Giving Tuesday campaign. The key to that? The second gift.
Why the second gift matters:
First-time donor retention rate: 21%
After a second donation: 64%
Once a donor gives again, the odds of building a multi-year relationship increase dramatically. That makes the second gift the most important post-Giving Tuesday goal.
Three Steps to Turn Giving Tuesday Into Long-Term Giving
1. Thank Promptly and Personally
Send a personal thank-you within 48 hours. Research shows that first-time donors who are thanked promptly are four times more likely to give again.
Go beyond transactional language. A gift receipt is not a thank-you.
Reference what their donation is achieving. Even a quick note like, "Your $25 helped us deliver 10 meals to families this week," adds meaning.
Consider using email, video messages, or even social media shoutouts to create a personalized donor experience.
Pro Tip: Use Julep's Thank Yous Needed feature to automate and track acknowledgments.
2. Convert: Build Toward the Second Gift
The typical Giving Tuesday donor skipped over your cultivation process. They didn’t receive your newsletters, attend your events, or read your case for support. That means they need extra steps before being asked again.
How to cultivate Giving Tuesday donors:
Create a short, automated welcome email series or video series. Introduce your mission, share a donor story, and invite them to learn more.
Share impact updates within 2-3 weeks of Giving Tuesday. Let them see what their donation helped accomplish.
Connect with them across multiple channels.
Use storytelling to build emotional resonance and reinforce your mission.
Then, make a targeted ask that is consistent with the donor’s first gift size and interests.
Pro Tip: Don’t send your end-of-year appeal to these donors until they’ve been cultivated. Segment them into their own post-Giving Tuesday journey.
3. Merge Thoughtfully Into Your Giving Programs
Once a donor has made a second gift, they are ready to be integrated into your broader fundraising efforts. But don’t make the mistake of lumping all Giving Tuesday donors into a one-size-fits-all program.
How to evaluate placement:
Review giving levels of both donations.
If a donor gave $250 and then $500, don’t route them into a $10/month campaign.
Match them with the right stewardship path: recurring giving, mid-level cultivation, or major gift prospecting.
Pro Tip: Use Julep’s Attributes and Flags to segment donors by frequency, source, and gift size.
Don’t Forget Existing & Lapsed Donors
While Giving Tuesday is often seen as an acquisition opportunity, it can be just as valuable for reactivating and engaging past supporters.
Why it matters:
Lapsed donors already know your brand.
Many lapsed donors didn’t stop giving out of disinterest. They just haven’t been asked the right way, or at the right time.
Giving Tuesday provides a meaningful moment to reconnect.
How to use Giving Tuesday for retention and reactivation:
Use Julep to identify donors who gave in 2023 or 2024 but not yet in 2025.
Personalize outreach with a "You made a difference before. Can we count on you again?" message.
Focus on storytelling and gratitude, not urgency or guilt.
Leverage Your CRM to Stay Organized
Julep’s donor management tools make it easier to track, segment, and engage Giving Tuesday donors with precision.
Key Julep Features to Use:
Moves Management: Visualize where every Giving Tuesday donor is in their journey.
Thank Yous Needed: Ensure timely acknowledgments.
Mail Merge + Custom Searches: Personalize communications at scale.
Donor Flags & Attributes: Tag Giving Tuesday donors and move them through a unique engagement funnel.
Map It: Use geographic data to plan regional thank-yous or events.
Giving Tuesday is an opportunity.
Giving Tuesday 2025 is more than a campaign. It’s a strategic opportunity to build sustainable donor relationships. With a 63% attrition rate looming, it’s clear that a successful Giving Tuesday is defined not just by the money raised on December 2, but by the education, retention, stewardship, and engagement that follows.
With the right approach—thank, convert, and merge—you can transform fleeting generosity into lasting support.
Want more Giving Tuesday resources? Check out the Julep resource library:
Webinar:
Guides:
What Happens on Wednesday? Building Relationships After Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday 2023 Is Different. Using Giving Tuesday to Target Lapsed & Current Donors
Blog: