Campaign planning
Giving Tuesday Fundraising Campaign on WordPress
Giving Tuesday is a single-day giving event, usually the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States, and it is now marked by organizations in many other countries. It is not the same as a year-end campaign. The window is short, the message is public and the donation page has to work on the first tap. This guide covers how to run that day on WordPress.
How Giving Tuesday differs from year-end fundraising
A year-end campaign can run for weeks. Giving Tuesday is one calendar day plus a short runway. Donors who give that day often discovered you through a social post or a newsletter, not through a long cultivation sequence.
That means the page must explain the cause in a few sentences, show a specific use of funds and load quickly on a phone. There is no time to fix a broken payment method after lunch.
A practical timeline
- Three weeks before: write the page, choose suggested amounts, connect PayPal or bank transfer, and send test donations.
- Two weeks before: draft the email sequence (announce, remind, thank) and the social posts. Prepare images that work in a square crop.
- One week before: publish the page, add it to the site menu, and send a “save the date” note to existing supporters.
- The day: send the morning email, post on social channels, and watch the first real donations in your WordPress dashboard.
- The day after: thank every donor, share a simple total if you have one, and point people to an ongoing donate page or a monthly option.
What the Giving Tuesday page needs
Keep one dedicated URL for the day. Include:
- A headline that names Giving Tuesday and the specific need
- Two or three sentences on what a gift funds that day
- Suggested amounts and a custom amount field
- A payment method donors already recognize, usually PayPal
- Organization name, contact and a short privacy note
Do not hide the form below a long history of the organization. People arriving from social media will leave. Use the pre-launch checklist the week before, not the night before.
After the day: keep the relationship
The thank-you email is part of the campaign, not an afterthought. Confirm the gift, say what happens next and, if it fits, offer monthly giving as an option for people who want to stay involved. Recurring donations are a FundCollector Pro feature and work with PayPal worldwide or with Mollie in Europe.
Export or review the day’s records so you can report a total to the board or to social followers without opening the payment gateway for every name.