What to Do After Hope in Action (2026)

Our third annual Hope in Action truly turned hope into a verb as communities across the country raised over $103,000 in a single day.

In this post, we’ll share our top tips for keeping up your community engagement and fundraising momentum.

Save the date to ramp up your fundraising strategy with our one-on-one help as we prepare for the return of GivingTuesday on December 1, 2026.

A graphic reads After Hope in Action: What to Do Now

Step 1: Share a Thank You ASAP

The most important thing to do after Hope in Action (or any day of giving) is to share a heartfelt and personal message of gratitude.

You should share your gratitude as soon as possible. Why not plan to share a thank you today or tomorrow?

Tips for saying thanks:

If your community connected with you across multiple platforms, share a thank you on all of those platforms.
Adding a photo or video is an easy but very powerful way to make your thank you more personal.
Thank people who donated but also people who liked, shared, volunteered, or commented.
If anyone went above and beyond this year, thank them individually with a private note, or ask if they are comfortable with you sharing a public thank you about their impact.
Fundraising is about more than money, so talk about feelings. How did Hope in Action 2026 make you feel—grateful, proud, surprised, energized, overwhelmed, hopeful? Let your community get a sense of those emotions so they feel more connected to you and your fundraising campaign.

Step 2: Show the True Impact

Donations on big giving days like Hope in Action may not immediately impact your life, especially if you’re fundraising towards a large goal or ongoing expenses.

However, you still want your community to understand the impact they’re making in a tangible and specific way.

Don’t be afraid to share how fundraising has already helped. Your community can understand (and celebrate) that there are some costs you’ve already been able to cover while still renewing their support for future needs that will come up.

Here are a few ways to show impact:

Explain a cost you were previously able to cover through fundraising and how it impacted your life
Share how your life has changed for the better since the start of this year or the start of your campaign with Help Hope Live
Share how close you are to an upcoming goal, milestone, or fundraising event

If none of these ideas feel applicable, you can simply share a more general reflection about what hope, community, and this fundraising campaign mean to you. Do they make you feel seen, cared about, supported, or hopeful?

Here are a few quick examples:

I will be able to fully cover the cost of my chemotherapy and associated medical travel thanks to this campaign.
I feel more hopeful about the future than I have for years because of you.
We are just $1,000 away from reaching my first fundraising goal with Help Hope Live.
I was able to return to physical therapy sessions this summer, which was impossible before this campaign started.

Step 3: Turn Supporters into Volunteers

Did you get a feeling that any of this year’s Hope in Action supporters felt really motivated to engage with your campaign? If so, now is the perfect time to talk to them about becoming volunteers for the next big day of giving.

You should always be on the lookout for selfless superstars and campaign champions.

They don’t have to be fundraising experts: they can work directly with your Client Services Coordinator to learn how to fundraise successfully in your honor.

Send them a personal note of thanks plus a specific “ask.”

What is one thing you would love to do as part of your GivingTuesday campaign this year? Turn the answer into an ask for each of your Hope in Action superstars.

Here are a few examples of asks for a star volunteer:

Could you help me plan a countdown to GivingTuesday across our social media accounts?
I am amazed by your marketing and social media skills. Could I ask my Coordinator at Help Hope Live to email you about ways to volunteer?
Could we brainstorm ideas for a virtual GivingTuesday event—maybe an online cocktail hour or ice cream social?
Would you be willing to write an email about me and my fundraising campaign that we could send out as a GivingTuesday launch?
I have an idea for an in-person plant sale fundraiser for December. Could you help me recruit a group of volunteers to bring it to life?

Step 4: Save What Worked for the Next Big Giving Day

Capture Hope in Action feedback and ideas while this day of giving is still fresh in your mind.

Think about the answers to the following questions, then ask your Coordinator to plan time with you to go over them together:

When did you start preparing for Hope in Action?
What was the hardest thing to do or figure out as you shared Hope in Action?
Did you hear any interesting ideas from your community?
What was the one most successful thing you did for Hope in Action this year?
What is one thing you’d like to change or improve for the next day of giving?
What is one creative idea you’d be willing to try?
Did you share any emails, texts, or social media posts that seemed to really make a strong impact or that your community loved? (Save them so you can use similar content again in the near future!)