GivingTuesday lands on Tuesday, December 1 this year. For many nonprofits, it is the busiest single fundraising day on the calendar. Increasingly, it is also just the opening whistle.
At Raisely, we looked at anonymized, aggregate donation data from nonprofits in the United States and Canada fundraising on our platform, alongside our 2026 Fundraising Benchmarks Report, to see what is working. The pattern is clear: the nonprofits that do best treat GivingTuesday as the start of a giving season that runs to December 31.
Here are seven trends, and how to act on each in the weeks you have left.
1. GivingTuesday is a spike, so plan a season
On GivingTuesday 2025, North American nonprofits on Raisely raised nearly 11 times as much as on an average day that year, from more than eight times as many donations. The median gift was US$50, compared with US$35 from January to October 2025. Donations peaked between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern.
Put it into practice: Build your calendar in two phases. Phase one is a two-week build to December 1: tease, count down, and go big on the day. Phase two runs from December 2 to 31, with planned moments for impact updates, matching, and a final-week push. Send your main GivingTuesday email early, ahead of the late-morning peak.
2. Matches and challenges give donors a reason to act now
Raisely’s 2025 Fundraising Benchmarks Report found that a match can increase appeal fundraising by up to 3.7 times. The 2026 report points the same way: one Raisely partner told us donors increasingly expect a match, and giving drops when one isn’t offered.
Put it into practice: If you have not secured a match yet, ask a board member, a local business, or a major donor this week. Frame it as a clear challenge with a deadline (“every gift doubled until midnight”), show live progress toward your goal, and hold back part of the match to relaunch in mid-December. Raisely’s free matched giving guide explains how to find a partner.
3. A frictionless page pays for itself
Raisely’s 2025 benchmarks found our optimized donation form increased fundraising by 60%. Donors are also willing to help with costs when asked: on GivingTuesday 2025, 82% of donations to North American nonprofits on Raisely included the donor opting to cover fees, compared with about half of donations so far in 2026.
Put it into practice: Ask a colleague to give on their phone and note every moment they hesitate. Cut optional fields, use suggested amounts tied to impact, keep the monthly option visible, and offer donors the chance to cover fees. Fix the top three issues before your traffic peaks.
4. The second gift is the real GivingTuesday goal
Of donors whose first 2025 gift to a North American nonprofit on Raisely came on GivingTuesday, only 2.4% gave again by December 31. Across the whole year, repeat giving is healthier: so far in 2026, 16.3% of donors have given more than once, up from 14.6% over the same period in 2025. Our 2026 Benchmarks Report also found net-new donor acquisition declined across most campaign types, which makes every new donor more valuable.
Put it into practice: Segment GivingTuesday donors into new and returning before December 1. Give new donors their own path: a same-day thank-you, an impact story within a week, and a specific, modest second ask in mid-December. Treat lapsed donors separately, with a “you helped before” message tied to a clear funding gap.
5. Recurring giving is growing, but not on GivingTuesday
Among North American nonprofits that fundraised on Raisely in both years, recurring dollars rose 44% between January 1 and October 19, 2026, compared with the same stretch of 2025. Our 2026 Benchmarks Report found the median recurring donor rate rose about 10.5% year over year. Yet on GivingTuesday 2025, just 5% of donations to North American nonprofits were recurring.
Put it into practice: Offer a clear monthly option on your GivingTuesday page, then follow up with a dedicated monthly ask to new donors in mid-December, framed as “an easier way to help all year.”
6. Your community extends your reach
So far in 2026, active peer-to-peer fundraisers for North American nonprofits on Raisely have raised an average of about US$391 each, with a median of US$100. Our 2026 Benchmarks Report found peer-to-peer campaigns drove the biggest increase in unique donors in 2025, and community campaigns grew recurring donors by 50% in the US and Canada.
Put it into practice: Invite your most engaged supporters, board, and staff to launch personal GivingTuesday pages a week early. Give them a short toolkit with sample copy, images, and a suggested goal. Then share social proof as it happens: progress updates, donor counts, and short stories across email and social.
7. The final week is a second peak
In December 2025, North American nonprofits on Raisely raised nearly a quarter (24%) of their December dollars between December 26 and 31, and 9% on December 31 alone. Daily giving in that final week ran about 30% higher than the average day from December 1 to 25.
Put it into practice: Write your final-week sequence now. Map a day-by-day plan from December 26 to 31 with short, urgent subject lines, a reminder that gifts must be made by December 31 to count for this tax year, and an extra send on the last day.
Start small, start now
You don’t need to do all seven. Pick the two or three that fit your team’s capacity, put them on the calendar this week, and measure what happens. The strongest results come from planning GivingTuesday and year-end as one connected story. Need a hand getting your GivingTuesday campaign ready? Raisely is offering a limited number of free, template-based campaign builds for eligible nonprofits. The Raisely Services team sets up your campaign with your branding and content, then hands it over for your team to manage. Explore the free GivingTuesday campaign build offer and see if your nonprofit qualifies. Eligibility and availability apply.
About the data: North American figures are based on anonymized, aggregated donation data from US- and Canada-based organizations fundraising on Raisely, using Eastern time. 2026 figures cover January 1 to October 19. Dollar amounts are in US dollars.
Jesse Walsh is Director of Marketing, Raisely. Raisely is a fundraising platform that helps nonprofits launch campaigns, grow recurring giving, and build supporter communities, and is part of Velora, a suite of nonprofit technology tools. Jesse focuses on helping nonprofits turn data into practical, donor-centered fundraising plans.
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