Giving Tuesday 2023 recap—this calls for a toast!

Every year, we get all pumped up for Giving Tuesday, and every year this global day of giving ends up being even more magical than we ever could have anticipated. 

This year was no different. 😎

In fact, we had a front-row seat to unprecedented levels of engagement, creativity, and generosity from record-breaking numbers of changemakers in our Givebutter community. 

Givebutter’s Giving Tuesday 2023 totals 

Here at Givebutter, we’ve been preparing for Giving Tuesday 2023 since—well, last Giving Tuesday, and we couldn’t be prouder of the nonprofits that churned out some of the most successful and inspiring campaigns we’ve ever seen. 

The Givebutter Fam hit some major milestones in 2023—all in the name of making the world butter. 💪

Nearly doubling our impact from last year, Givebutter had 5,200 organizations raise over $9 million dollars from nearly 50,000 donors. And when we look at the few days leading up to Giving Tuesday, those numbers skyrocket to $12.8 million raised from 71,000 supporters! 

In the words of Max Friedman, Givebutter’s founder and CEO, 

Giving Tuesday is the most energizing day of the year for us. The creativity of campaigns and the strength of the changemaker community are on full display.

This year, the Givebutter team also created more opportunities than ever to equip nonprofits with the tools and know-how for successful Giving Tuesday fundraising, including these free resources:

• Special Office Hours dedicated to giving live feedback on Giving Tuesday campaigns 🚀
• Updated Giving Tuesday Ultimate Playbook full of templates, checklists, and planning guides 📚
• Fan-favorite monthly Givebutter webinars tailored toward honing Giving Tuesday strategies ✨

Nothing gives us more pep in our step than seeing changemakers reach (and surpass!) their fundraising goals. 

A legen-dairy day of giving back 

For the third year in a row, Givebutter also decided to take things up a notch for Giving Tuesday. In the spirit of the season, we decided to give back in a big way to celebrate the changemakers who use our platform to fund their missions. 

In partnership with Visa, the Givebutter Gives Back for Giving Tuesday initiative put forward $35K to donate to the most active and most creative Giving Tuesday campaigns. 

More than 1,600 nonprofits submitted their Giving Tuesday campaigns to be considered for a donation—twice as many as in 2022!

On the big day, the 20 organizations that mobilized the most supporters each received a $500 donation from Givebutter and special recognition for being the “Most Active Campaign.” And the five fundraisers deemed the “Most Creative Campaigns” each received $5K for their ingenuity and for making the most of what the platform has to offer.

Meet the Most Active Campaigns 

These 20 organizations worked their buns off to rally their communities and churn out the highest number of donations—not necessarily the highest dollar amount—in four-hour increments throughout the day. 

Round 1 (6 - 10 am ET) 🌅

🛫 Wings of Rescue 

📚 Liberty Education Foundation 

🎒 Wayne Township Education Foundation 

💛 Bullies 2 the Rescue 

🐱 The Petfinder Foundation 

Round 2 (10 am - 2 pm) 🌞

🎳 Ball 4 A Cure Inc

🌏 She's the First 

🌅 Hawai‘i Community Foundation 

🧑‍🎓 St. Petersburg Catholic High School 

🐕‍🦺 Bow Wow Buddies Foundation 

Round 3 (2 - 6 pm) 🌄

⛪  Mass of the Ages

🐈‍⬛  Animal Protective Association of Missouri (APA Adoption Center)

⛹️  YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh

🐴  Randy’s Rescue Ranch

🐶  The Boxer Rescue

Round 4 (6 - 10 pm) 🌝

🚌  RVA Rapid Transit

🦮  Gateway Pet Guardians

🎟️  The Christian Brothers Institute of Michigan

📖  King County Library System Foundation

🤝  Boys and Girls Club of St. Joseph County

Giving Tuesday’s Most Creative Campaigns

A panel of special guest judges—which was made up of organizations that have previously received Givebutter Gives Back honors—made the final selection for the five Most Creative Campaigns. The $5K donation recipients were announced live and invited to say a few remarks at Givebutter’s special webinar celebration on December 5, 2023.

Ball 4 a Cure 🎳

Combining a massive in-person event with an unstoppable virtual fundraising drive, Bowl 4 a Cure’s Giving Tuesday campaign surpassed its goal of $15K! 

Funds will go directly to help families impacted by pediatric cancer with rent and other financial hardships, so they can focus on battling this disease together. The campaign made excellent use of video, campaign updates, and engaging graphics to tell their story. 

Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife 🐒

On a mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and release wildlife that has been illegally trafficked in Laos and raise awareness about the importance of conservation, the Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife launched a team fundraising campaign called Save LCTW. Save Wildlife. on Giving Tuesday. 

The campaign page featured a story section full of graphics, photos, and videos to showcase their impact, as well as consistent engagement with hundreds of donors on their live supporter feed. 

She’s the First 🌏

She’s the First displayed the impressive scope of their work and their vision with infographics and video on their Celebrate Girl Power fundraising page for Giving Tuesday. 

Their online campaign brought in over $32K from 275 supporters, which will enable them to continue their mentorship and education programs for thousands of girls in dozens of countries across the globe.

Phoenix Rising FC Youth Soccer ⚽

This line from Phoenix Rising’s Giving Tuesday fundraising page says it all: 

“Think about how much you love playing soccer. Now think about how good it will feel to help someone else enjoy the game they love too!” 

Showing the true meaning of teamwork, their Holidash - 8th Annual Fun Run, an event and team fundraising campaign, brought hundreds of teams together to raise funds and has netted over 1.4K individual donations so far, all of which will go toward financial aid for players. 

Foster Village Charlotte 💛

With inspiring video and graphics to tell their story, Foster Village Charlotte’s peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, Foster the Movement 2023, raised 114% of their $60K goal! 

34 individuals joined as P2P fundraisers and hundreds of individual donors chipped in to support their mission and the expansion of their services and critical community spaces for foster families. 

Raise more with Givebutter all year round 

We couldn’t be more inspired by the thousands of changemakers who stepped up for Giving Tuesday 2023, and we hope everyone who joined in the action is patting themselves on the back for the massive impact we’ve made together. 

But it doesn’t end here! 

Nonprofit organizations of all sizes use Givebutter’s full suite of world-class fundraising and donor management tools to fund their work every day of the year. From fundraising pages and donation forms to events, auctions, and a full spread of marketing and engagement tools, Givebutter offers everything you need for fundraising that’s easy, fun, and free. 

There’s never been a butter time to get started. Create your free account and see how Givebutter can help level up your fundraising for years to come.