With summer coming to an end and the school year back in full swing, the sixth annual Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving to Catholic Schools is just around the corner! If you haven’t participated in this fundraiser before, it’s a fantastic opportunity for anyone who has been positively impacted by Catholic education to pay it forward and donate to local Catholic schools just like yours. This year’s event begins at noon ET on Tuesday, November 14 and runs for 24 hours, ending at noon ET on Wednesday, November 15.

Getting Started

Part of what makes National Day of Giving such a great fundraising solution for schools is the support from the FACTS and NCEA teams. We’ll guide you through every step of the process, helping you to create a successful fundraiser for your school with dedicated tools and support. Our top tip for engaging donors and running a successful campaign? A dedicated appeal page!

Making a dedicated appeal page allows you to customize your campaign for your school, highlighting your school’s values, mission, and need for support. Getting started is simple.

  1. To participate in customizing your own appeal page, fill out this form.
  2. Once your information has been reviewed, your free FACTS Giving account will be set up.
  3. Instructions will be sent to you by email.
  4. Log in and customize your Day of Giving to Catholic Schools appeal page.

You can create your customized appeal page through October 31.

Crafting a Compelling Campaign

Now that your custom appeal page is set up, it’s time to get started on crafting your campaign strategy. Here are some of our top tips to keep in mind:

  1. Cultivate a culture of philanthropy infused with gratitude and personalism. Great philanthropy uses a Report-Thank-Ask formula. This means that you’re not focusing solely on asking for donations, but approaching philanthropy as a long-term, year-round process. Donors don’t want to hear from you just when you want money. When you communicate regularly on what donations mean to your school, the “ask” part of this formula becomes much easier.
  2. Allow your donors to be the hero. Donors want to know where they fit into your school’s story. Show donors how they’re making a difference in your school’s story and what their donation has allowed you to do. Don’t just focus on the biggest donors; make sure everyone knows how appreciated they are.
  3. Make use of powerful language. The way you talk about your campaign matters. Use phrases like “because of you” and “you are a champion of our mission” to keep the focus on the donors, not their gift. Remind them that they are the ones making a difference.
  4. Make use of matching gifts to create urgent milestones. People are more inspired to give gifts when they can see that a goal is almost in reach, sometimes even donating again to help a school reach a certain number. This is why it’s important to keep your community updated on your progress towards your goals during the Day of Giving, whether it’s through social posts, a graphic of a rising thermometer, or other methods.
  5. Appeal to people’s emotions. Your appeals should create excitement, connect with people’s emotions, and empower your community. Give people a compelling reason to donate.

Making Use of Marketing

Marketing is crucial to reaching your fundraising goals. It’s important to remember that marketing shouldn’t be utilized just during the actual Day of Giving, however. Creating a great campaign is truly a year-round endeavor, especially if you’re looking to continue building on your success in years to come.

Luckily, we’ve made marketing easy with our Catholic School Week and Year-Round Marketing Kit! This extensive kit provides resources for the entire year, from images to post on social before Day of Giving to thank you letter templates to send to donors after the event. The Tools and Templates section of the kit makes it incredibly simple to get started with marketing, with some resources just requiring you to drop in your school’s name.

Here are some other helpful marketing tips we’ve gathered over the last five years of successful Day of Giving events:

  • While social media is a great way to connect with donors, don’t forget to put your Day of Giving information directly onto your website.
  • Clearly identify the needs of your school and use those specifics to entice donors. If you’re raising funds for new basketball uniforms or new library books, you can create fun social posts that announce funds raised in terms of how many new uniforms or books you’ll be able to purchase. This is great way to engage donors and emphasize exactly what donations do.
  • Being able to tell your story throughout your campaign is crucial. Keep people invested in helping your school meet its goals by updating them throughout Day of Giving on your progress via social media, emails, and other channels.
  • Make use of videos! Videos are a great way to convey the mission and vision of your school. You can get creative by taking and posting videos announcing dollars coming in, students’ reactions to fundraising, or messages from your principal or pastor encouraging giving.
  • Make sure to express gratitude after the Day of Giving with thank you notes from students, social media callouts, sliders on your website, or even in your parish bulletin.

For more information on creating your dedicated appeal page or how to best promote your Day of Giving campaign, view this helpful webinar or access our FAQ page. If you have further questions, please feel free to email us at [email protected].