--- title: "Giving Tuesday: Food bank donors step up again" description: Giving Tuesday is all wrapped up, and it was an incredibly successful campaign. Much like we’ve seen throughout the year, food banks are leading the way. image: https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hubfs/210106-RKD-Giving%20Tuesday-Food%20bank%20donors%20step%20up%20again-Doodle-v2-01%20(1).jpg --- [![](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/210111-RKD-Groupthinkers-Rebranded-Logo-Blog-png.png?width=157&name=210111-RKD-Groupthinkers-Rebranded-Logo-Blog-png.png)](https://blog.rkdgroup.com) - [Solutions](https://rkdgroup.com/services/) - [Mid-Level Giving](https://rkdgroup.com/services/mid-level-giving/) - [Monthly Giving](https://rkdgroup.com/services/monthly-giving/) - [Lapsed Giving](https://rkdgroup.com/services/lapsed-giving/) - [Personalization](https://rkdgroup.com/services/personalization/) - [Connectors](https://rkdgroup.com/services/connectors/) - [Machine Learning](https://rkdgroup.com/services/machine-learning/) - [Marketing + Fundraising](https://rkdgroup.com/services/marketing-fundraising/) - [Audience Development](https://rkdgroup.com/services/audience-development/) - [Creative Services](https://rkdgroup.com/services/creative-services/) - [Data Management](https://rkdgroup.com/services/data-management/) - [Strategic Planning](https://rkdgroup.com/services/strategic-planning/) - [Analytics](https://rkdgroup.com/services/analytics/) - [Causes](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/) - [Animal Care](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/animal-care/) - [Food Banks](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/food-banks/) - [Health + Hospitals](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/health-hospitals/) - [Humanitarian](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/humanitarian/) - [Missions](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/missions/) - [Salvation Army](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/the-salvation-army/) - [Results](https://rkdgroup.com/results/) - [Acquisition](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=acquisition) - [Digital](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=digital) - [Mid-Major Programs](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=mid-major-programs) - [Advanced Analytics](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=advanced-analytics) - [Direct Mail](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=direct-mail) - [Multichannel Strategy](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=multichannel-strategy) - [Data Management](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=data-management) - [Media](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=media) - [Website Development](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=website-development) - [Resources](https://rkdgroup.com/insights/) - [Blog](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/) - [Benchmarks](https://info.rkdgroup.com/benchmarks) - [Webinars](https://info.rkdgroup.com/webinars) - [Ebooks + Research](https://info.rkdgroup.com/ebooks-research) - [Podcast](https://info.rkdgroup.com/group-thinkers-nonprofit-marketing-podcast) - [Field Guides](https://info.rkdgroup.com/field-guides) - [About Us](https://rkdgroup.com/about/) - [Leadership](https://rkdgroup.com/about/leadership/) - [Careers](https://rkdgroup.com/about/careers/) - [Let's Chat](https://rkdgroup.com/lets-chat/) #### Subscribe to our blog ### Subscribe to Email Updates ## Featured Post   [RKD Group](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/author/rkd-group) ## [What happens when a 'long shot' becomes the leader? | Susan Blouch, Lebanon Rescue Mission](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/what-happens-when-a-long-shot-becomes-the-leader-susan-blouch-lebanon-rescue-mission) “They are never going to give this job to a woman,” a friend told Susan Blouch. 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A third person (or maybe no one\[...\] [Digital Fundraising](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/digital-fundraising) [SEO](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/seo) [Digital Media](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/digital-media) [Social Media](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/social-media) [Data & Analytics](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/data-analytics) [Read More](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/why-nonprofits-must-unite-seo-social-and-paid-media-in-one-strategy) ## Recent Posts [Food Banks](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/food-banks) [Giving Tuesday](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/giving-tuesday) # Giving Tuesday: Food bank donors step up again By [RKD Group](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/author/rkd-group) Giving Tuesday 2020 is all wrapped up, and early indications show that it’s [another one for the record books](https://www.philanthropy.com/article/givingtuesday-generates-estimated-2-47-billion-from-donors). And, much like we’ve seen throughout the year, [food banks](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/food-banks/) are leading the way. ![giving-tuesday-food-banks](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/giving-tuesday-food-banks.jpg?width=300&name=giving-tuesday-food-banks.jpg)Since the onset of the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://rkdgroup.com/blog/how-should-nonprofits-handle-fundraising-during-coronavirus-pandemic/) in March, food banks across the U.S. have witnessed unprecedented generosity from donors. Many organizations—especially those that leaned into their digital channels—have already broken fundraising records in 2020. One big question on everyone’s minds has been: Will donors continue to step up their charitable giving, or do they feel tapped out? RKD Group even commissioned research with [The Nonprofit Alliance](https://tnpa.org/) to see [how donors felt about year-end fundraising](https://info.rkdgroup.com/more-to-give-donor-sentiment-toward-2020-year-end-fundraising). We found that 36% of donors plan to give more this December than last year. And of those who said they plan to give more, 61% have already given more in 2020 than in 2019. That’s what donors *said* they would do. Whether that plays out in reality remains to be seen. We’ve gotten our first glimpse at December fundraising with [#GivingTuesday](https://www.givingtuesday.org/). So far, donors are staying true to their word. The results are in for 20 food banks—both big and small—and their combined Giving Tuesday revenue is $6.05 million. In 2019, these same 20 food banks combined for $1.28 million. That’s a 471% increase. Wow! And that’s only counting donations on Giving Tuesday, not any of the giving that happened in the days before as part of the campaigns. “RKD helps many of the Feeding America member food banks raise funds, including on Giving Tuesday,” said Catherine Davis, Chief Marketing & Communication Officer at [Feeding America](https://www.feedingamerica.org/). “With the increased numbers of neighbors facing hunger right now in the wake of the pandemic, Giving Tuesday’s success was vital.” Food banks have witnessed amazing generosity from donors since the start of the pandemic. A few months ago, we ran a full-file analysis of 78 food banks across the U.S. and found [a 623% increase in new donors](https://rkdgroup.com/blog/food-banks-see-623-surge-in-new-donors-during-covid/) through the first half of 2020. Three months later, the latest numbers through September show new donors up 579% and total revenue up 221%. Think about that: Food banks have more than doubled the average active donor file from a year ago. But will these new COVID donors stick around and form a strong connection to the organizations to which they’ve given? We’ve established that [this new breed of food bank donors](https://info.rkdgroup.com/new-breed-of-food-bank-donor-covid-19-pandemic) behaves differently from both the average food bank donor and a disaster donor. This year-end giving season may offer further insight into the question of retention. The early signs from Giving Tuesday appear to be promising. Some of our food banks [segmented out](https://rkdgroup.com/blog/email-marketing-has-grown-up-in-the-last-decade/) COVID donors from their regular email file and treated them differently during Giving Tuesday. COVID donors (new donors on the file since March 12) had nearly triple the open rate on emails than the regular file (20.9% vs 8.0%) and quadruple the click-through rate (4.9% vs 1.2%). And the most exciting part: COVID donors gave at a much greater rate, with a 433% higher response rate than the regular email file. These statistics are all great news for food banks, but they also underscore the tremendous need that still exists across the U.S. The pandemic [has not gone away](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/12/darkest-stretch-pandemic-winter/617285/). In fact, it [continues to spread rapidly](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html) from coast to coast, affecting both the health and finances of millions of Americans. As food banks continue their mission to end hunger, these record-breaking funds from Giving Tuesday will go a long way to help during the holiday season. ### [RKD Group](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/author/rkd-group) RKD Group is North America's leading fundraising and marketing services provider to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, including hospitals, social service, disease research, animal welfare, rescue missions, and faith-based charities. RKD Group’s omnichannel approach leverages technology, advanced data science and award-winning strategic and creative leadership to accelerate net revenue growth, build long-term donor relationships and drive online and offline engagements and donations. With a growing team of professionals, RKD Group creates breakthroughs never thought possible. 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