Fundraising · campaigns
GivingTuesday with a team of two
By the Ember team · September 9, 2026 · Updated September 27, 2026
GivingTuesday 2026 is Tuesday, December 1. A team of two can run it with one clear ask, four emails written a week early, a few first-hour gifts lined up and thank-yous sent within a day or two.
Decide if you are in
You do not have to do GivingTuesday. It is a crowded day, and a weak campaign can cost you more in goodwill than it raises. Skip it if your list is small and you have nothing new to say.
Do it if you have one clear, concrete thing to ask for. Not “support our work.” Something a donor can picture.
Pick one number and one picture
Make your ask specific. For example: “$40 fills one backpack, and we need 60 of them.” One number, one image, one deadline.
If you cannot say what a gift does, the donor has to guess. Make it easy to picture instead.
The four-week plan
Four weeks out
Write the ask. One paragraph. Send it to two people who do not work for you and ask what they think it pays for. If they get it wrong, rewrite it.
Three weeks out
Clean your list. Not all of it, just the part you will actually email. Bounced addresses and duplicates make your numbers lie to you afterward.
Two weeks out
Line up three or four people who will give in the first hour. Ask them directly. Then your morning email can say people have already given, so no one has to go first.
One week out
Write all your messages now, while you are calm. You need four: a heads-up, a morning-of, a late-afternoon nudge, and a thank-you. Schedule what you can.
The day itself
Send in the morning, send again in the late afternoon, and then you are done. Two emails in one day is fine on GivingTuesday. Do not skip the second one.
Post the running total somewhere people can see it, and update it through the day. It costs you nothing.
The part everyone skips
Thank people by name and say what their gift did. Aim for the same day, and no later than two days. A receipt is not a thank-you, so send both. To deduct a gift of $250 or more, a donor needs a written receipt from you (IRS, 2026).
If a first-time donor hears nothing from you until next November, you got a gift, not a donor. The follow-up is where the campaign pays off.
One thing to add this year
If you are a public charity and not a supporting organization, tell donors something new. Starting in tax year 2026, donors who do not itemize can deduct cash gifts to qualifying charities (IRS, 2026). The limit is $1,000, or $2,000 on a joint return. It is new, so do not assume donors have heard.
Gifts by card, check or online payment count as cash (IRS Publication 526, 2025). Gifts to a donor-advised fund do not qualify (26 U.S.C. §170(p)). Ask donors to check with their tax preparer. Here is what changed.
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Sources: GivingTuesday.org, Participate in GivingTuesday 2026 (the date) and its 2024 Pulsar post (held each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving); IRS, Topic 506, Charitable contributions (the 2026 deduction for people who do not itemize, and the written receipt for gifts of $250 or more); IRS, Publication 526 (what counts as a cash gift); 26 U.S.C. §170(p) (which charities count, and gifts to a donor-advised fund or a supporting organization). All read 24 September 2026.