GivingTuesday campaign examples: 3 inspiring success stories

Get tips and inspiration from three of our favourite GivingTuesday campaign examples so you can plan your own successful campaign this year.

GivingTuesday is like the Black Friday or Cyber Monday of the fundraising world, with an annual day of generosity each year on the Tuesday after American Thanksgiving. In 2024, it falls on December 3rd.

But did you know it also happens all year round? GivingTuesday has evolved into a global movement with a simple premise: to embolden people to do good on Tuesdays. It’s a great opportunity to attract new donors, encourage online fundraising, and run exceptional social media campaigns with the hashtag #GivingTuesday.

Although it’s only been around since 2012, GivingTuesday has already inspired hundreds of millions of people to help others, and donate to a good cause.

GivingTuesday raised $3.1 billion USD in 2023 alone in the U.S. — that's impressive!

But that success requires a lot of work.

That’s where Raisely comes in. We give nonprofits the tools they need to achieve successful GivingTuesday campaigns.

Here we’re sharing three amazing real-life GivingTuesday campaign examples that made a huge impact using Raisely. We’ll show you how they did it, and how you can create your own GivingTuesday campaign!

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), Toronto

RMHC Toronto’s mission is, “Keeping seriously ill children and families together to improve their health and well-being.” They’re an independent charity that has been helping families for over 40 years, and aspires to continue helping for another 40 and beyond.

Last year, they used Raisely’s all-in-one platform to raise more than $100,000 CAD in GivingTuesday donations. By the end, they exceeded their fundraising goal by bringing in $107,000 CAD from 366 donors, including one donation for a whopping $10,300 CAD!

Here’s how they did it:

One of the main reasons we love this GivingTuesday campaign example is because of how RMHC Toronto used one of Raisely’s customisable templates to tell heartfelt stories about families who had to uproot their lives and travel to Toronto so their children could receive the treatment they needed.

They also let donors know that another organisation, Saputo Foodservice, would match their donations. One of the donation options is for $183 CAD, which equals one night’s stay at RMHC Toronto.

Another huge reason why this GivingTuesday campaign was such a huge success is that RMHC Toronto incorporated peer-to-peer campaigns throughout the year. Their peer-to-peer fundraising campaign made it easy for users to personalise their pages and share their unique stories through social media posts on channels like Facebook and LinkedIn. By the time GivingTuesday came around, RMHC Toronto was well equipped to make the most of their 24 hours.

Peer fundraising pages are effective ways for your nonprofit organisation to reach new potential donors. In one fundraiser, RMHC Toronto gamified their campaign with a leaderboard featuring the top individuals and top team fundraisers. As the competition heated up, fundraisers even called donors to gain additional donations.

Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia

Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia is “brightening the lives of sick kids.” Causes don’t get nobler than that!

For over 30 years, Starlight Children's Foundation Australia’s state-of-the-art programs have partnered with health professionals, bringing laughter and joy to sick kids of all ages, regardless of their illness, injury, or disability.

Their GivingTuesday campaign with Raisely was truly a standout. On the big day, they raised $20,525 AUD, which included matching gifts from their partners.

Here’s how they did it:

The subject line on their campaign’s landing page read, “Yes! I’ll help sick kids this GivingTuesday!” They then compelled donors to click the “Donate now” button by showing a progress bar with the promise that their donation would be matched.

Matched donations are an ingenious fundraising idea because they embolden donors to give more, making raising money that much easier.

Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia double-downed on the matched giving idea by showing how the donations could make an impact:

• $39 would help bring fun games and activities to kids during Christmas
• $78 would give a sick kid and their family access to the Starlight Express Room
• $117 would help Captain Starlight pay visits to kids in hospitals all around Australia

Their donation page also tells the stories of three children in need of a little happiness during the holiday season, including a 3-year-old diagnosed with lymphoma, a girl who underwent a heart transplant, and a 4-year-old fighting a tumour.

Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia’s one-page site married simplicity with functionality, and we’re so honoured that we got to help them make a difference.

Breast Cancer Care WA

Breast Cancer Care WA provides “breast care nursing, counselling, and financial support to women and men affected by breast cancer.” They’ve been offering their services free of charge since 2000.

Breast Cancer Care WA is one of our favourite GivingTuesday campaign examples because of how well they personalised their campaign. They raised $5,384 AUD during their one-day fundraising efforts and their campaign left a lasting impression — especially since they ran it during the holiday season!

Here’s how they did it:

On their online donation page, Breast Cancer Care WA pulled at the heartstrings by sharing Amanda’s story. Amanda is a mum who was facing financial challenges, like paying for her groceries, the electric bill, and Christmas gifts, while also preparing for her breast cancer surgery. Compelling visuals, including Amanda receiving treatment and a photo of her kids, accompanied her story.

A donation form right at the top of the landing page included five donate buttons and multiple payment options. Towards the bottom of the page, there were three recommended donation tiers, including:

• $50 to put fuel in a car for a mum to go to treatment appointments
• $80 for home cleaning after a surgery
• $200 for a full pantry and Christmas dinner for a family during their tough times

These fundraising tools and tactics are simple but effective, and donors feel good knowing that their money will help a family enjoy Christmas and not have to worry about the essentials for a while.

GivingTuesday Campaign Examples: Tips and Tricks

All three of our GivingTuesday campaign examples had a lot going for them, like beautiful and functional donation pages, compelling stories, and savvy peer-to-peer fundraising tactics.

But most importantly, according to Kat Murphy, is a calendar invite. “I don’t know about you, but if I’m not getting notification about something on my Apple watch, I don’t know where I need to be. I don’t know what day it is … you need to have GivingTuesday or whatever giving day on your donor’s calendar — on your various stakeholders calendars. Literally send them a calendar invitation.”

Here are a few more tips and tricks we’ve learned from other GivingTuesday campaigns:

• Plan ahead: GivingTuesday is only a one-day event, so you’ve got to plan accordingly to amplify your impact. Many nonprofits start planning weeks — even months — ahead of the event.
• Set a clear goal: Establish what your event goal is, whether it’s to attract a number of new donors or to achieve a certain dollar amount. This also gives donors something to shoot for and can encourage more and larger donations.
• Use social media channels: Peer campaigns can gain substantial momentum when you have a good cause, a great story, and it reaches a massive audience.
• Use video: If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a 60-second video is worth 1.8 million! All you need is a smartphone and a clear message.
• Engage your ambassadors: Give your current followers the tools they need to spread the word about your GivingTuesday campaign. The clearer your message and the easier you make it for them, the more likely you’ll see results.
• Prepare for your follow-up: Don’t focus solely on your top-tier donors. One of the amazing benefits of GivingTuesday campaigns is that you’re accessing new donors. Have a welcome packet ready for them. Even if they only donated $10 or $20, if your follow-up is meaningful to them, they can become recurring donors and advocates for your cause.
• Have fun: Choose a unique, engaging, and on-brand theme or challenge for your GivingTuesday campaign. You can gamify your fundraiser with a leaderboard or a fundraising thermometer, ask people to do something wacky (we’ll never forget the ice bucket challenge), or turn the event into a celebration. When people are enjoying themselves, they tend to give more.

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How Raisely Can Help With Your GivingTuesday Campaign Ideas

These are just a few of our favourite GivingTuesday campaign examples, but there are plenty more to choose from. We’re thrilled to continue helping nonprofits achieve fundraising success.

Are you ready to create your GivingTuesday campaign with Raisely’s free template? A quick, high-converting template designed for GivingTuesday campaigns, with optional peer-to-peer functionality to boost your reach.