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Giving Tuesday can catalyze organizations in Q4, and we explain why including crypto is critical.
Giving Tuesday is November 29, and nonprofits around the world are preparing fundraising campaigns in hopes of catching some of the generosity.
Around 35 million adults participated in Giving Tuesday in 2021, and the market cap for 2022 is projected to be around $3.2 billion USD. Additionally, Giving Tuesday donations of crypto increased 500% from 2020 to 2021, and that number could see another exponential jump in 2022.
In our experience at Engiven, the better our nonprofit clients communicate their ability to receive crypto donations with their donors, the more crypto donations they receive. Simply: the more clearly and often they say, "hey, we accept crypto!", the more crypto donations they get.
Keep in mind: the average active nonprofit receives between 1-2 crypto donations per month, with an average value of ˜$5k USD.
So, why aren't nonprofits screaming their ability to receive crypto from the rooftops? In this blog, I aim to equip you and your nonprofit––regardless of your level of crypto proficiency––to clearly feature crypto in your upcoming Giving Tuesday campaign.
Read More: How to find a matching donor for Giving Tuesday
Resource: View and edit social media templates
Why you should include crypto
The majority of the US population is asset-rich and cash-poor and, though it's hard to know who among your donors has appreciated assets like crypto, odds are someone does! According to a recent study by Gemini:
- 20% of the US population owns crypto
- Among high-income individuals, the number jumps to 29%
- The gender breakdown of crypto ownership in the US is 68% male and 32% female
If around 20% of your existing donor base owns crypto (that's the national average), it can be assumed that those individuals would prefer to donate crypto over cash. Why? Because crypto is viewed as a non-cash asset by the IRS, which creates an incredible incentive to donate it instead of cash if they're sitting upon capital gains. By donating crypto to your nonprofit, donors can (potentially) avoid capital gains taxes, and get a full tax write-off (though this should not be construed as tax advice––make sure you and your donors consult tax professionals to explore the ramifications of crypto donations).
How to include crypto
1. Get comfortable talking crypto
First off, become confident in your staff's ability to talk about crypto as one of the many ways that people can give. Unfamiliarity with crypto is the primary barrier many of our clients encounter to talking about crypto. For many, it's very different from their previous fundraising experiences. So, spend some time working through it and building your confidence until everyone feels comfortable talking about how crypto gifts are accepted. Prepare your talking points and practice your delivery. Bring it up regularly in staff meetings and training scenarios.
Note: Your responsibility is not to teach people about crypto, but to communicate to those who own (and are likely very knowledgeable about) crypto that you can receive it as a charitable gift. Hopefully this distinction alleviates some of the perceived pressure that comes from preparing to talk about crypto.
2. Always list crypto with your other "ways to give"
Everywhere that you communicate the means by which your nonprofit can receive gifts, be sure to include crypto donations. Whether via email, radio, video ads, printed materials, website or over the phone, crypto must be featured as a standard channel for philanthropic giving.
As you prepare your Giving Tuesday campaign, resist the urge to treat crypto as a separate giving category. Include crypto donations with your other giving methods, including in your real-time campaign reporting (see image). This way, as your donors look at campaign data, they're reminded that crypto donations are an option.
3. Include visuals
When your nonprofit communicates via visual mediums, be sure to include crypto imagery. For example, you can represent crypto with the Bitcoin character (₿) or in text communications. There are also a multitude of widgets and images available online for you to include in your giving methods.
Many of your donors probably won't know what these icons mean––but owners of crypto definitely will! And sometimes seeing a cryptocurrency-related icon is enough to engage a potential crypto donor.
4. Make a crypto-specific announcement
Within the first few months of partnering with Engiven to receive crypto donations, make a point of communicating to your existing donor base that you've added crypto to your giving methods. You can do this via email, through a social media post, with a banner on your website, or at your next public event as an announcement, with support from a QR code, a text reply system or printed handouts.
Here are some examples of ways to word your announcement about this new giving method:
- We're excited to announce that we're now able to receive crypto donations
- Now accepting crypto
- New! Donate crypto through our website
- We're always looking to update and expand our ways to give, making participation in philanthropy as elegant and seamless as possible for our partners. That's why we're excited to announce that we're now able to receive and process crypto donations.
- For the crypto enthusiasts, we're excited to announce that we can now receive crypto donations. The process is simple and safe: once your crypto donation is processed on our website, it is converted to dollars, and transferred to our account the same day. Real time reporting and tax-compliant documents are issued automatically for you. For more information, (insert call-to-action, like "visit our website" or "text CRYPTO to 52525").
