← All work
ClientTougaloo College
RoleCampaign Strategy · Web · Social
Fund1869 Annual Fund

Giving Tuesday
at Tougaloo.

How a two-year campaign evolved from donor education into a high-performing, interactive fundraising engine centered on One Tougaloo.

01 · Overview

From education to a giving engine.

Giving Tuesday became one of the Division of Institutional Advancement's most important fundraising moments, especially during a year marked by a campus-wide spending freeze. Built around the 1869 Annual Fund, the campaign evolved over two years from an educational push into a high-performing, web-driven fundraising engine.

Tougaloo College Giving Tuesday campaign mark
The I.D.E.A. Framework

How it came together.

I.

Identify the Problem

The 1869 Annual Fund is unrestricted, meaning it supports the college's most critical needs, but education policy had put the campus under a spending freeze that made fundraising harder. Many donors weren't clear on what an unrestricted fund even supports. The fund was also under new leadership, and general giving fatigue made it harder to capture attention. The question wasn't just how to raise money. It was how to help people understand why the fund mattered enough to act.

D.

Determine the Solution

Year one focused on education and trust. We introduced the four pillars of the fund, scholarships, IT infrastructure, academics, and facilities management, and built video content around each. Year two shifted the approach entirely, moving toward something interactive and centralized under the theme One Tougaloo, emphasizing collective impact.

01

Scholarships

Direct support for student opportunity.

02

IT Infrastructure

Technology that keeps the college connected.

03

Academics

Resources that strengthen learning.

04

Facilities

Care for the spaces students use every day.

Now showing

Giving Tuesday Campaign Video 01

1869 Annual Fund · Tougaloo College

E.

Execute the Strategy

In year one, I supported an introduction video featuring the Director of the 1869 Annual Fund, four pillar-specific videos with campus leaders, and a social strategy that rolled forward earlier fund content. In year two, I built a dedicated Giving Tuesday landing page that was actively updated throughout the day, coordinated social media pushes driving traffic directly to that page, added a live scrolling donor roll to recognize contributors by name, and built in easy sharing so supporters could spread the campaign themselves.

Campaign websiteGiving Tuesday Landing Page
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Interactive featureLive Donor Roll
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A.

Analyze the Results

Year one raised $37,000 against an $8,000 goal. Year two raised $70,744 against a $20,000 goal, nearly double the year before. Beyond the dollar amount, the campaign built a shared language around the fund and turned a static donation ask into a living campaign people wanted to be part of.

Two Years of Momentum

The foundation made the growth possible.

Year One · Education & Trust
$37,000

Raised against an $8,000 goal.

4.6× the campaign goal
Year Two · One Tougaloo
$70,744

Raised against a $20,000 goal.

Nearly double the previous year
06
Conclusion

Momentum is built,
not random.

Momentum is built, not random. Year two worked because year one laid the groundwork. When storytelling, social content, and a clear donation path all point to one well-designed page, people respond, and public recognition turns giving into something visible and communal.

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