Help Hope Live’s biggest giving day of the year may be over, but the season of giving has just begun!
Now that GivingTuesday has ended for 2025, it’s time to look ahead. Here are our top tips for following up on your GivingTuesday momentum and continuing your fundraising plans for the end of the year and the start of 2026.
Tip 1: Capture Feedback
Is there anything that went really well this year during your GivingTuesday fundraising push? Is there anything you’d like to improve, change, or totally rethink next year?
Even though it may seem early to start preparing for GivingTuesday 2025, now is the best time to capture some of your thoughts and ideas for next year.
Knowledge is power! Capture some of your feedback about your GivingTuesday experiences to discuss with your Client Services Coordinator.
Together, we can start the process of preparing for next year’s big day in a way that’s manageable and stress-free.
Tip 2: Say Thank You
The most important thing to do after GivingTuesday is to put together a message of gratitude to your support community.
Don’t overthink it! Your way of saying “thank you” should be genuine and heartfelt.
You can share your thanks on social media, in a video, via email, and via text or messenger apps. If your supporters hang out in all these places, thank them everywhere!
Make your message even more noteworthy by turning it into a short video or adding a photo. The more visual you can make your post or message, the more engaging it will be—and engagement keeps your community closely tied to your fundraising campaign.
Here are a few tips to help you get started on a thank-you message or post.
Don’t just thank people who donated.
Some of your support community members may not have been able to give this year, but that doesn’t mean their support isn’t important, right?
By liking or sharing posts, posting about your Help Hope Live campaign, or sharing messages of love with you on GivingTuesday, they made a difference. Make sure they know you feel that way!
Talk about your positive reactions.
Did your community’s support on GivingTuesday make you feel proud? Humbled? Overwhelmed? Energized? Hopeful?
Show your supporters a little piece of your mind and heart. Sharing what you feel will help them feel connected to you and your cause.
Tip 3: Share the Impact
You already know exactly why financial help and hope are critical to your future—and you know just how much of an impact donations and support can make.
However, always keep in mind that your support community may not be able to relate to your experiences on a firsthand level.
These challenges are very real for you. Help others understand their impact.
One great way to do so is to start with one of these thoughts in a post, email, or text:
“Because of your support, I have been able to…”
“As you know, over the past year I’ve been struggling with…”
“The top three things I am fundraising for are…”
“The last thing I had to pay for out-of-pocket was…”
“Thanks to your donations, I can…”
“Because of you, I look forward to…”
“Your support helps me believe in…”
“Thanks to you, I am closer than ever to my goal of…”
“What hope means to me is…”
“Community support is important to my life because…”
Tip 4: Continue the Season of Giving
Giving tends to be on everyone’s mind more than usual as we enter the holiday season and get close to the end of the year. Even though GivingTuesday is over, it’s likely that some of your supporters will be thinking about nonprofit causes like Help Hope Live more than usual this month.
That means now is the perfect time to chat with your Coordinator about an end-of-year fundraising push.
Your plans for end-of-year giving should be tailored to your community’s interests, your bandwidth, and the fundraising strategies that have worked successfully in the past.
If you’re not sure where to start, don’t panic!
We’re here to offer you one-on-one fundraising guidance so we can plan a strategy that works well for you. Keep reading for a few ideas.
Write an End-of-Year Fundraising Letter
While you are reflecting on GivingTuesday, community support, and the past year, it’s a great time to draft an end-of-year letter to your community.
Click here for instructions and a sample letter. Share your draft with your Coordinator for personalized feedback.
Refresh Your Campaign Page with Updates & Photos
You may have already updated your Campaign Page leading up to GivingTuesday. If you didn’t, or if you have new updates to share after GivingTuesday, we have resources to help:
- Click here for tips on writing a new campaign story or refreshing an existing story.
- Click here for instructions on choosing photos for your Campaign Page.
- If you need a refresher on how to use your Campaign Page and make changes, click here for the mobile guide or click here for the desktop guide to using your Dashboard.
Try Something New in 2026
Fundraising is all about experimenting, being creative, and staying open-minded. A new year can be a strong opportunity to commit to trying something brand-new in the world of fundraising.
Here are just a few quick ideas – ask your Coordinator to help you talk through them:
- Create a video campaign. We have creative ideas for videos here that can help you combine two goals in one: expanding your community and sharing your fundraising campaign in a fresh way.
- Brainstorm a few folks who may be willing to volunteer. Fundraising can feel like a full-time job, so ask your Coordinator for some help putting together a list of potential volunteers. Volunteers can help plan or run a fundraising event, commit to sharing your story and Campaign Page, manage an email update list for you, or a variety of other creative tasks. Some employers even offer special incentives to employees who get involved with nonprofits for volunteering – and since you’re working with a nonprofit for fundraising, friends who help with your campaign may be eligible!
- Keep yourself encouraged. If you tend to be someone who is hard on yourself or daunted by the prospect of asking for help from others, start the new year with a fresh commitment to keeping yourself encouraged and motivated. Hearing from others who have been in your shoes can help – read encouragement from our Ambassadors, and ask your Coordinator about opportunities to participate in Open House webinars with our Ambassadors and team.
- Explore non-fundraising resources. If you haven’t reviewed our Resource Directories this year, they can be a great source of trusted resources, including grants, support groups, and helpful organizations. Click here and scroll down to Resource Directories to find the hand-selected list that matches your diagnosis category.
What to Read Next
Find links below to our Fundraising Roadmap series and our other fundraising blog posts and resources:
