A finance volunteer at a small church opens the email program on the Monday after Giving Tuesday. Forty people gave. Nobody has thanked any of them.
She sends one message to the whole list: “Thank you for your generosity.” Half of it lands in spam. The other half reads like a receipt.
Giving Tuesday falls on December 1 this year. If your church takes part, the four weeks before it decide whether people feel thanked or solicited. Here is a plan.
Week one (Nov 4 to Nov 10): decide what you are asking for
Pick one purpose, such as a benevolence fund or a missions trip. Write it in two sentences a family repeats at lunch. Name the person who owns the campaign. A campaign without a name next to it stalls by week two.
Week two (Nov 11 to Nov 17): thank before you ask
Send a note of gratitude to people who gave this year. Do not mention Giving Tuesday. Tell them what their giving did, with one specific story from the year. This is stewardship: you account for what you were trusted with.
Week three (Nov 18 to Nov 24): invite
Now send the invitation. Send one email and one text, and ask a pastor to mention it from the pulpit. Link to a giving page that works on a phone. Make sure the page loads and takes a gift before you send anything.
Week four (Nov 25 to Dec 1): remind once
One reminder on the Monday before. One message on the day. Then stop. A church that sends six reminders teaches its people to ignore the seventh.
After the day
Within 48 hours, every giver receives a personal thank-you, by name, with the purpose of the campaign in it. For larger gifts, a pastor or board member makes a call. Our plan for the weeks after is in Year-End Giving for Churches.
What to automate and what to keep human
Automate the schedule: the gratitude note in week two, the invitation in week three, the reminder, and the thank-you the moment a gift arrives. Timing is where small teams fall behind.
Keep the story and the phone call human. A thank-you written by a person who knows the giver carries weight that no template does.
Digital Pastor handles the schedule. The follow-up automations send each message at the right time, and the AI assistant answers giving questions at night, such as how to give by text or whether a gift is recorded. Your team handles the relationships. Starter begins at $149 a month, and the pricing page lists the rest.
Your first step this week
Write the two-sentence purpose for your campaign and put a name next to it. Do that before you touch an email tool.
If you want the schedule running by November 18, book a demo this week and we will build it with you.
