Giving Day: Conducting a symphony or herding cats?

A key irony that is uncovered is that beneath the surface of giving day fundraising frenzy is a strong and well-planned marketing infrastructure, and a gift processing operation that typically appears very structured on the surface needs to embrace the fun of the day and the ‘big picture’ effect its work has. This paper will provide a window to the George Mason University Giving Day strategy that resulted in a record giving effort for 2021. The overall theme of the paper is that, while giving day may appear to be a free-wheeling day of school spirit, a successful effort is based on good strategy, rigorous planning and executed on a solid framework. Key areas of focus include communication plans, website, events and workflows. Elements of success that are covered include investment in creating a culture of philanthropy, identifying and motivating networks, innovation and developing compelling messaging. Tactical topics such as: appeal codes, e-mail marketing tools and progress indicators are also covered. It also emphasises that a strong operational partnership with gift processing is needed to ensure that donors who were motivated to give are not only thanked in a timely manner but also that the data is used to feed the overall fundraising operation management process. Illustrations included provide visual identity branding examples, a visual of the Giving Day toolkit used to empower various divisions of the university in their efforts, a timeline of action for e-mail campaigns along with key data points for monitoring success, and a visual used by the gifts processing team to emphasise the big picture and effect in moves management areas such as: identification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship and alumni network development.