Giving Day 2024 Communicators Toolkit
Jump to a section: Resources for communicators | General information | Messaging and tools | Plans and timelines | Creative assets | FAQs
Resources for communicators
Giving Day kicks off at noon ET on Feb. 21, 2024, and runs until noon ET on Feb. 22, 2024.
The Giving Day communicators toolkit has everything you need to help promote Giving Day and drive gifts to your college, unit, department, or program. Please share this toolkit with anyone on your team who may assist with your Giving Day communications, marketing, and promotional efforts.
Use the quick links at the top to jump to the section you need, or scroll down for the full roster of resources.
General information
About Giving Day
Giving Day is an annual fundraising and donor engagement event managed by the Advancement Annual Giving team. The high-energy event takes place over 24 hours and invites Hokies to support Virginia Tech colleges, programs, and activities that mean the most to them. Giving Day plays a critical role in maintaining Virginia Tech's alumni participation growth and helps foster a culture of philanthropy.
- Website URL: givingday.vt.edu
What to expect
Giving Day is almost a full year in the making. Behind-the-scenes work starts soon after the previous Giving Day wraps up with planning the next event, engaging all areas of Advancement.
Before the end of the calendar year, marketing activities have been finalized and challenge donors have been secured. The early giving period is set up for VIP gift-giving for 3 weeks leading into Giving Day, but it is not mass-promoted like the big event itself.
During the 24 hours of Giving Day, you can expect to see an increase in digital promotion on social media and via email. Giving Day Ambassadors will be spreading the word to their networks and asking them to give. Leaderboards and challenges will be updated in real-time on the website as gifts come into current-use funds from across the university.
On the campuses in Blacksburg and Roanoke, you will see activities to hype up the excitement of Giving Day, led by both central Advancement and the Advancement teams in the colleges. For those who are located outside of Blacksburg, you can tap into the in-person headquarters via Zoom.
Dates to know
- Giving Day 2024 starts at noon ET on Feb. 21, 2024, and ends at noon ET on Feb. 22, 2024
- The early giving period for VIPs runs from Jan. 29, 2024, through 8 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2024
- The first creative clinic will be held Dec. 18 from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; bring your questions and your area's Giving Day promotional items for feedback. Interest form
- Social media plans are due from colleges and units to Kate Adkins on Jan. 15, 2024. Email them to katelino@vt.edu.
Resources
- Giving Day 101 virtual session, 11/9/23: Recording; Slide Deck (PDF)
- Early giving information and logistics (PID login required)
Contacts
- Erin Daugherty, marketing and communications lead, erindaugherty@vt.edu
- Kate Adkins, social media, katelino@vt.edu
- Tiffany Pruden, creative, tiffany1@vt.edu
- Susan Gill, Scalefunder website, susan83@vt.edu
- Jimmy Moore, ambassadors, jimmymoore@vt.edu
- Haleigh Williams, stewardship, haleighwilliams@vt.edu
Messaging and tools
The list below contains tools and information you can use for talking about Giving Day with your donor audiences.
- One-pager on general Giving Day information (PDF)
- College/unit messaging planning matrix template
- Suggested text for eNewsletters, internal emails, and personal social media
How to be an Ambassador, while also being a Communicator
In past Giving Days, college and unit communicators would sign up as Ambassadors on the Giving Day platform and use those links in their areas' correspondence and digital promotion. This was found to be problematic for the overall strategy for the Ambassador program, which is a critical part of a successful Giving Day.
To remedy this, area communicators have custom vanity URLs provided by Marketing. These links are added to the emails sent centrally as part of the Marketing plan, and they should also be used in promotional activities on behalf of their area.
If communicators wish to also participate as Ambassadors (which we highly encourage!), they should sign up as themselves and not as their area. Any Ambassador promotion should then be done as an individual — reaching out to personal networks, sharing the Ambassador link on personal social media, etc.
Plans and timelines
Marketing plan
The FY24 Giving Day Marketing Plan provides an overview of the timeline and cadence of centrally managed email, social media posts, direct mail, campus signage, and paid advertising to promote Giving Day.
Emails sent on behalf of colleges and units will use trackable URLs, and any additional promotion by the colleges and units from their owned channels (such as social media, department list serves, etc.) must use the same URLs as well to help in accurately reporting conversion performance.
Social media plan
Social media is a vital communications and marketing tool during an all-hands campaign like Giving Day. The central social media plan contains tips and tricks for social engagement and the schedule of posts coming from the primary Virginia Tech social media accounts.
- Social media plans are due from colleges and units to Kate Adkins on Jan. 15, 2024. Email them to katelino@vt.edu.
Challenges timeline
Colleges and units compete in multiple challenges throughout the day to win bonus funds for their area. They build the gamification and excitement that is unique to Giving Day and encourage donor participation. Hourly challenges are based on gift count to help encourage multiple gifts per donor, therefore helping to boost their overall giving to Virginia Tech.
You can view the planned timeline of challenges here, which will be updated in real-time on Giving Day as gifts come in. The front-end view of challenges can be found on the Giving Day website.
Editorial roundup and CMS tagging information
One of the best ways to inspire donations is through storytelling. You should consider uplifting VT News articles that demonstrate the impact in your area as part of the overall Giving Day strategy. The central VT News team will be tracking Giving Day-tagged stories using this spreadsheet. If you have stories planned and/or stories that previously ran that help with this strategy, add them to the list.
About CMS tagging: All Giving Day-related stories will need to be tagged "giving-day." If you are uplifting a story that has been previously published in VT News, you can edit the article to add the tag, then send it to the publishing workflow. Be sure to also add it to the tracking spreadsheet. For questions, contact vtnews@vt.edu.
Frequently asked questions
Below is key information about the 2024 Giving Day campaign. This information is for your college/unit’s own edification, and/or the base for college/unit-developed social media posts. We have also supplied sample social media posts for us as-is or to guide the creation of your own posts.
What is Giving Day?
Giving Day is Virginia Tech’s annual fundraising event, started in 2018, where Hokies come together for 24 hours to support the area that means the most to them at the university. This year’s Giving Day campaign takes place Feb. 21-22, 2024 from noon to noon, Eastern Standard Time.
What is the purpose of Giving Day?
Giving Day plays a critical role in maintaining Virginia Tech's alumni participation growth and helps foster a culture of philanthropy. In 2024, our goal is to engage 17,000 unique donors.
How can donors make a gift on Giving Day?
Gifts can be made at givingday.vt.edu starting at noon on Feb. 21 and ending at noon on Feb. 22. Donors may also call 800-533-1144 during that time and mention they would like to give to the Giving Day campaign.
What do gifts support?
Gifts can be made to the program, organization, college, etc. that matters most to the person making a gift!
Is there a minimum gift amount required to participate in Giving Day?
Yes, you can make a gift of $5 or more to participate in Giving Day.
What are Giving Day ambassadors?
Ambassadors are Virginia Tech alumni, faculty, staff, students, family members, and friends who are passionate about Virginia Tech and supporting Hokies. Ambassadors are key to the success of Giving Day because they advocate for the area of their choice by doing peer-to-peer outreach. Gifts made through ambassadors consistently account for half of all Giving Day gifts. Individuals who sign up as ambassadors are assigned a unique giving link to share with their networks; donors who give through ambassador links consistently account for half of all Giving Day gifts.
What is You+2?
You+2 is a challenge that is exclusive to Giving Day ambassadors. When you make a gift to the area that matters most to you, and enlist two other people to make a gift through your unique ambassador link, you’ll receive a limited-edition embroidered blanket and bento box.
What is the gamification of Giving Day?
Giving Day is a gamified giving campaign composed of dozens of “challenges” that pit colleges and units against each other in friendly competition for the chance to earn additional funds, thanks to gift-matching opportunities from some of our most generous donors.
Challenges are primarily based on donor count to individual areas. Challenges build on the excitement that is unique to Giving Day and encourage donor participation. Hourly challenges are based on gift count to encourage multiple gifts per donor, therefore helping to boost their overall giving to Virginia Tech. Colleges and units can promote challenges they would like to highlight on their college or unit social media channels and in emails to their faculty/staff.
If someone is having trouble making a gift, who can they call?
Anyone experiencing issues with our giving site should call 800-533-1144 to make their gift over the phone.
Who can I contact if I have questions?
If you have questions, please contact the Giving Day team at givingday@vt.edu.