How charities can participate in Black Friday

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…at least it’s supposed to be, for brands and consumers looking to snag a great deal.

Originally an American ‘holiday’, Black Friday is a phenomenon focused on commercialism and consumerism. And since 2010, Black Friday has gradually built-up momentum in the UK.

Now, it is regularly seen as the peak pre-Christmas online sales day – and online retailers haven’t looked back since.

In 2022, online Black Friday sales are likely to be bigger than ever. They’re likely to last longer, too. In fact, many retailers have already begun offering deals, leading some to rename it ‘Black November’.

But before you count out the month of November all together, there are lots of ways charities can benefit from and participate in Black Friday.

Partner with a brand

It’s no surprise, with the rise in social media marketing, Black Friday has become a major trending topic across every social media platform. In 2017, Twitter reported that 79% of users were looking for offers through the platform during Black Friday and 55% during Cyber Monday.

So it might seem strange, but more and more brands are opting out of Black Friday. Choosing instead to focus their efforts on giving back.

In 2020, Hush, the online women’s lifestyle brand, partnered with Crisis on a campaign which saw it donate 20% of all online sales in 24 hours – between 0:01 to 23:59 – on Black Friday, to the new ‘Connect for Crisis’ initiative for the homeless. Together, they ended up raising over £70,000.

When you combine opportunities for increased donations with major awareness raising possibilities, partnering with a brand is a great way for charities to take advantage of the Black Friday mayhem.

Giving Tuesday

Since 2012, Giving Tuesday has been heralded as the charitable response to Black Friday. It is a movement that encourages people to donate their time, money, or raise awareness of a good cause.

Giving Tuesday Holds the world record for the most money raised online for charity in 24 hours. And in 2020, Giving Tuesday raised more than £20 million in donations. Equivalent to almost £14,000 a minute and a 43% increase from Giving Tuesday 2019 (Visa UK data).

Charities can find out how to get involved on the Giving Tuesday website.

Opt for a different shade

Can’t wait until Tuesday? Why not opt for a different shade altogether and make it Green Friday.

Originally, Green Friday came about as a rejection of Black Friday, standing against aggressive discounting. But, over the last few years, more and more charities have been jumping on the hype surrounding Black Friday to support and promote their own charitable campaigns.

In 2019, for example, WWF launched its ‘limited stock’ campaign. In a series of new content, WWF highlighted the rising numbers of endangered wildlife around the world – including polar bears, pandas, and jaguars – asking followers to donate and support their work to protect wildlife from threats such as poaching and habitat loss.

Learn how to make fresh content for your website or get the most out of your greener social media campaign.

Give in

If you can’t beat them, join them.

In 2014, Black Friday became the peak pre-Christmas online sales day. In 2020, the retail news site, Charged, reported Cyber Monday 2020 as the most successful digital sales day ever to have taken place. 

That doesn’t mean that great bargains are exclusive to individual consumers. Leading up to Black Friday, charities should start looking around for some the best soft and hardware deals out there.

You can find some of the best deals on Charity Digital.

Alternatively, software Suggest’s master list of Black Friday and Cyber Monday software and app deals is a great resource. From savings on tools for social media monitoring, to marketing automation, analytics, there’s bundles upon bundles of savings to be had (some of which are up to 75% off).

Explore Charity Digital Exchange

Charity Digital offers deals all year round, but this year we’ve decided to get into the spirit of Black Friday. From discounted offers, to bundles, and donations, to savings on entire products (including Avast, Dell, Microsoft, and Adobe) it’s all available on Charity Digital Exchange.