By Julia Molinaro, Digital Marketing Director at The Purpose Collective
When it comes to awareness days (and months), there are meaningful and important days that everyone has heard of, such as International Women’s Day or Black History Month. Then, there are the more obscure days, like Squirrel Appreciation Day (why?!) and National Maple Syrup Day (as a Vermonter, this one speaks to me). As if there weren’t already enough awareness days, there’s even Make Your Own Holiday Day!
But when used intentionally to further your marketing goals, awareness days can draw attention to your cause. They can help your nonprofit organization reach new audiences, engage your existing community, and drive impact. In fact, one study found a 908% increase in online conversions when relevant awareness days are used in social media marketing.
Whether your goal is to raise money or simply drive awareness, awareness days deserve a place in your nonprofit marketing strategy.
While you’re building out your content calendar for 2025, consider these eight tips to capitalize on the power of awareness days:
1. Be relevant and selective
There are hundreds of awareness days and months that you can choose from. Pick and choose a select few to integrate into your content marketing plan, based on what’s more relevant for your cause and target audience.
Moderation is key here; if you jump on the bandwagon for too many awareness days, it may feel inauthentic or tiring to your audience.
Here are a few awareness days/months to get your wheels turning:
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (January 11th)
American Heart Month (February)
World Water Day (March 22nd)
Earth Day (April 22)
National Volunteer Week (April 27-May4th)
Mental Health Awareness Month (May)
Pride Month (June)
International Day of Friendship (July 30th)
National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day (August 4th)
Grandparents’ Day (September 7th)
World Mental Health Day (October 10th)
National Down Syndrome Awareness Month (October)
National Entrepreneurs’ Day (November 18th)
Colorado Gives Day (Dec 10)
National Ugly Sweater Day (December 19th)
Choose a mix of fun, playful days and more serious, well-recognized ones—this mitigates the risk of supporter fatigue caused by content overload or too many donation asks. If you’re an animal shelter, Dress Up Your Pet Day could be a chance for a fun photo challenge that generates some social media buzz for your organization. If you work with youth, National Mentoring Month could be a great time to share stories of impact.
Be sure to make the most of the well-known awareness days related to your work. For nonprofits in Colorado, Colorado Gives Day—the state's biggest fundraising day—can be a great opportunity to host an impactful event.
All nonprofits should think about Giving Tuesday, an awareness day that tends to sell itself. Just sending an email on that day can put you at the top of your supporters’ minds and result in more donations for your cause.
2. Choose your channel(s)
Fun and obscure awareness days tend to be a good fit for entertaining and engaging your followers on social media. The days that directly align with your mission can be built into entire fundraising campaigns across social, email, and even direct mail. If you’re hosting an event on an awareness day, can you engage local news outlets to help you spread the word?
Another channel to consider is Meta Ads. Running ads on Facebook and Instagram can help you reach new audiences or encourage existing followers to take action. Keep in mind that this works best if your campaign is more than a few days long so the ads have enough time to optimize.
PRO TIP: If you’re posting on social media for an awareness day, be sure to include relevant hashtags. This can help your content reach a wider audience of people who are already interested in content about that specific day or cause.
3. Make your ask urgent.
Now that you have your awareness day and marketing channel(s) selected, consider what urgent ask for your audience ties in with that day. Consider the issues that are current right now. How does the problem you're solving connect to larger social and cultural conversations? How can your supporters be a part of the solution? What compelling reason do you have for someone to take action today?
If you’re asking for money, a powerful way to increase the urgency of your appeal is by offering a donation match. One survey found that 84% of participants say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered. If potential donors know that a match is only available for 24 hours, they’re more likely to give immediately after seeing your email or post.
4. Craft your messaging and materials
Now that you have a defined goal for the awareness day, it’s time to build out your messaging and materials.
If your campaign is for a popular awareness day, ground your messaging in the established themes. Use colors already associated with the month in your materials. For example, if it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, be sure to include pink ribbons.
If the awareness day or month has a specific tagline or theme for the year, incorporate that into your messaging. For example, this year’s International Youth Day theme was “From Clicks to Progress.” It focused on digital technologies that can accelerate innovation.
AVOID THIS COMMON MISTAKE: Too often, nonprofits highlight the awareness day or month… and stop there. Don’t forget to connect the day to how it relates to your organization’s mission and the work you do. This will set your nonprofit apart from dozens of other organizations that might also be running a campaign.
5. Partner with others
Are there any organizations, local businesses, or individuals that you can team up with to make a bigger splash on a given awareness day? Perhaps you could come together to host an event. Or, ask the partners you work with to share your blog or social media posts on that day. What about social media influencers, activists, or thought leaders for your cause who might want to join your campaign? We’re stronger as partners!
6. Craft your message to tell a story
The fact that it’s an awareness day or month isn’t compelling enough on its own to motivate your audience to take action. Whether you’re fundraising or just want to educate more people about the issue you’re up against, you need to evoke emotion in your reader.
The best way to do this is through storytelling. What stories of someone impacted by your organization can you tell? If you can’t tell stories from the people you support, what about a staff member or donor story?
Stories build empathy and create personal connections to your cause. They show your reader why taking action with your organization matters for another person. A strong story can motivate someone to give you money, share your post, attend an event, sign a pledge, or volunteer with your organization.
7. Show some proof
One of the most powerful combinations you can use in your awareness day campaign messaging is stories plus statistics. When you include facts about the problem you’re solving or concrete numbers about your impact, you show your readers the difference they can make. A study by CCS Fundraising found that 97% of donors cite impact as a major motivating factor behind their donation.
If it’s International Literacy Day and that’s related to your cause, start by sharing statistics about literacy rates in your location. How many children has your nonprofit taught how to read and write? How much does it cost to provide a book for a child you support to take home? By sharing all these facts and figures, your readers will better understand the problem you’re solving and see themselves as part of the solution.
8. Set one clear call-to-action
That’s right, just one! Each social media post or email you send out should only have ONE call-to-action. Do you want to fundraise, spread information, give your audience an opportunity to engage, or expand your following?
Many nonprofits fall into the trap of sharing every single way someone can get involved on an awareness day. Donate or share a post or sign up for the email newsletter or sign a petition or volunteer or fundraise. Overwhelming, right? As a result, readers will take no action at all.
Choose just the most important call-to-action you want to highlight on that day. Tell people exactly what you want them to do, why it matters, and how to do it. This critical step turns your awareness day campaign from “see what sticks” into a strategic effort.
By following these tips, you’ll be well-positioned to maximize the power of awareness days and months for your nonprofit in 2025. We can’t wait to see how your campaign motivates and inspires others to join your cause!
This guest blog post was written by Julia Molinaro, Digital Marketing Director at the Purpose Collective. Julia is passionate about helping nonprofits tell stories that motivate others to support their cause and make a difference. You can connect with her via email or on LinkedIn.