Giving Tuesday 2021 - Nonprofit Fundraising for the Record Books

Giving Tuesday 2021 has come and gone and early signs are pointing to another banner year for nonprofits in the United States!  Some organizations are still raising funds (as recommended in the Salsa Giving Tuesday 2021 Guide) and wrapping efforts into their end-of-year giving campaigns, so we expect data to continue rolling in for a few more days. 

Until then, we thought we'd share a few highlights from the national movement and compare that to what we're seeing among Salsa clients who had a particularly good year in 2021.

The GivingTuesday Data Commons estimates that 35 million adults participated in the U.S. helping to raise more than $2.7 billion; a 9% increase compared to GivingTuesday 2020, and a 37% increase since 2019. These two data points alone give strong indications that 2021 will end up as the best year for fundraising yet!

More than $8 Million Raised by Salsa Nonprofit Software on Giving Tuesday 2021

We analyzed the data and activities of 1,586 nonprofits using Salsa Engage, and the results blew us away. 

• $8.2 million raised completely online
• 33.1 million emails sent
• 65,878 individual donations received
• 39,000 SMS/text messages sent
• $172 average donation amount
• $51 median donation amount

These amazing numbers are proof of the boundless generosity of those who support critical nonprofit communities, and the power of the Salsa Engage fundraising software.

Strong Increase in Volunteering During Giving Tuesday 2021 

It's also important to remember that Giving Tuesday isn't just about raising funds, it's about helping nonprofits create the capacity they need to continue doing the good work they do. Volunteerism is another nonprofit key performance indicator that shows the strength of a nonprofit program and its ability to get critical services to the communities it supports.

This Giving Tuesday, volunteering on the day increased by 11% and gifts of goods (clothes, food, supplies, etc.) saw an 8% increase compared to 2020. 

Conclusion

While data is still rolling in, all signs point to a banner year for fundraising and volunteering. Our friends at EveryAction also posted a recent article showing similar success with their platform, and will be releasing a more detailed report in the coming days which we'll share here and in our social channels. Stay tuned.

If you promoted a Giving Tuesday event this year let us know how it went by dropping us a note on Facebook If you weren't able to rally a Giving Tuesday event, you can always hold an end-of-year fundraiser to close the year out strong and get a jump on next year's activities. Our EOY Strategy Guide can help you plan and implement a successful end-of-year fundraising campaign and provides some key communication templates to get the word out. Good luck!

If you want to unlock more strategic fundraising tips, check out these additional resources:

• Nonprofit KPIs and How To Measure Your Impact - The most comprehensive post on key performance indicators for nonprofits. Download our template and learn how to measure your own nonprofit KPIs.

• Nonprofit Editorial Calendar - Download our Guide on creating your own nonprofit content and download our editorial calendar you can use right away to help you plan.

• Want More Volunteers and Donors? - Read our article on the Nonprofit Ladder of Engagement and learn how to engage your audience at every level of their relationship with your organization.

• Ultimate Guide to Advocacy Campaigns. If you're planning an advocacy campaign our Ultimate Guide to Advocacy Campaigns is the place to start, with communication templates, relationship mapping tools, and more.