How to Create a Giving Day Social Media Toolkit

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2023. It has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness. 

Amplify Your Giving Day Reach With a Social Media Toolkit 

One of the most effective ways to build momentum for a Giving Day is through social sharing—but not just from your institution’s official channels. To truly maximize reach, you need to empower your broader community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and donors to share your message across their own networks.

That’s where a social media toolkit comes in.

A well-designed Giving Day social media toolkit removes friction for your advocates by providing them with ready-to-use images, sample posts, hashtags, and clear guidance on how and when to share. When posting is easy, more people participate—and participation drives visibility, engagement, and results.

This guide walks through everything you need to include in a Giving Day social media toolkit, along with examples and best practices to help you get started. You’ll also learn how to distribute your toolkit strategically so your ambassadors are equipped and confident in the weeks leading up to your event.

One important note: successful Giving Days don’t happen overnight. Ideally, Giving Day planning begins at least three months in advance, with your social media toolkit finalized and shared with ambassadors about a month before launch. With that timeline in mind, let’s dive into how to create a Giving Day social media toolkit that works.

1. Choose Your Hashtag

When it’s time to start promoting your giving day platform on social media, the first step is creating a distinctive hashtag to include in all posts. 

Why does this matter?

A dedicated hashtag helps collect all Giving Day activity in one place, making it easier to track engagement, highlight supporter posts, and thank donors publicly. It also allows your audience to find updates, progress, and stories by searching a single phrase.

Start by brainstorming three to five hashtag options that align with your institution’s brand. Before finalizing one, search each option across major platforms to ensure it isn’t already in heavy use.

2. Create Your Image Assets

Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn are the core channels for most institutions, but short-form video platforms should also be a key part of your toolkit. Vertical video assets can be used across TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Stories, making them highly versatile.

When creating your assets, prioritize formats that can be easily reused across platforms and devices.

Above is a great example of social media graphics from Rochester Institute of Technology’s ROAR Day Social Media Toolkit. In addition to providing easy-to-leverage social graphics, their comprehensive toolkit includes sample posts, a guide to creating unique tracking IDs, and links to all of their school’s social profiles. 

Social Images and Video Best Practices

• Use JPG or PNG files under 2MB when possible
• Design with safe margins to avoid text cutoff
• Prioritize vertical layouts for maximum reuse

When creating your assets, make sure you optimize your images for the different elements on each platform (profile picture, banner, etc.). You can refer to Hootsuite’s social media image cheat sheet for the most up-to-date image sizes across social channels, but we’ve also summarized them below.

3. Prepare Platform-Specific Templated Posts

Your toolkit should include sample posts optimized for each platform. While the core message can stay consistent, tailoring copy to platform norms can significantly improve engagement.

Regardless of platform, all posts should:

• Include a link to your Giving Day campaign
• Reference your hashtag
• Clearly indicate where supporters can personalize the message

Important Note: If you are using Instagram, your ambassadors will need to put the link to the campaign in their bio as Instagram does not allow for links directly in their posts. 

You should also encourage supporters to attach one of the images you’ve created to any post they share—posts with images are much more engaging.

Above are some examples of templated posts from the Hawken School’s Giving Day Volunteer Toolkit.

4. Short-Form Video and TikTok Content

Short-form video continues to be one of the most engaging content formats across social platforms. Encouraging your community to share quick, authentic videos can significantly expand your Giving Day reach.

Ask ambassadors to record 15–30 second vertical videos answering prompts like:

• “Why I give to [Institution Name]” 
• “What [Institution Name] means to me” 
• “Why I’m participating in Giving Day” 

These videos can be shared directly on TikTok and Instagram Reels, reposted to Stories, embedded in emails, or featured on your Giving Day page.

Best Practices for Short-Form Videos

• Film vertically on a phone 
• Keep it casual and conversational 
• Add closed captions for accessibility 
• End with a clear call to action

5. Put the Pieces Together

Once your assets and copy are ready, assemble them into a single, easy-to-navigate toolkit. 

Include a brief introduction explaining:

• What Giving Day is
• What the toolkit contains
• How and when supporters should share
  

Organize the toolkit by platform rather than by date so advocates can quickly find what they need. 

You should also double-check that your social media toolkit and fundraising campaign page are accessible and functional on both mobile and desktop. Do a QA of your links across various internet browsers to avoid glitches at a critical moment later on. The easier it is to access your toolkit, the more people will use it to advocate for you.

Check out these stellar social media toolkit examples from some of our partner schools for inspiration: 

Rochester Institute of Technology – Social Media Toolkit

Frostburg State University – Advocate Toolkit

Hawken School – Volunteer Toolkit

6. Share Your Toolkit with Social Media Ambassadors

Certain individuals will become your social media champions and help share your event before, during, and after through their own profiles. They can also be nurtured as early donors to your platform so you launch with momentum.

To maximize your efforts, you should begin to identify potential social media ambassadors 90 days before launch and send them any materials 30 days before launch. 

Strong candidates include:

• Volunteers from student organizations
• Deans within the colleges running giving day campaigns
• Stakeholders within advancement
• Major gift prospects
• Alumni who are highly involved

Whoever you identify, make sure they are willing to commit their time and that you give them a clear outline of what you’re asking. Below is a suggested timeline and tasks for promoting your 

Based on the amount of participation you anticipate from ambassadors, you may also choose to send various additional communications reminding them about the toolkit in the lead-up to your event.

Bring Your Giving Day to Life Through Social Sharing

A Giving Day social media toolkit is one of the most powerful tools you can use to extend the reach of your campaign. By equipping your community with clear guidance, compelling visuals, and easy-to-share messaging, you transform supporters into active advocates who help spread your story far beyond your own channels.

The most successful toolkits are built with today’s social landscape in mind—emphasizing authenticity, personalization, and formats that are easy to reuse across platforms. When advocates feel confident and prepared to share, participation increases and momentum builds organically throughout your Giving Day.

GiveCampus supports institutions at every stage of the Giving Day journey. From targeted outreach to customizable fundraising pages to built-in analytics and tools that make it easier to track engagement and impact, GiveCampus helps you connect social activity to real results.

If you’re planning an upcoming Giving Day and want to learn how GiveCampus can support your strategy, speak with a fundraising pro today.