You’ve seen the catchy ‘holidays’ that appear every few days on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but did you know that they’re a timely reason to reach out to your supporters and share your mission with a wider audience? If your organization’s mission is directly related to a cause awareness day like International Nurses Day (May 12) or an entire month like Black History Month (February), there are a variety of ways you can leverage a calendar of national days to your cause’s advantage.
To capitalize on the momentum surrounding cause awareness days and month, the first thing you have to do is find out which causes fall on which days so you can plan your outreach around it. Before we jump into the various cause awareness days or months, let’s go over some tips.
Tips for Leveraging Cause Awareness Days
Plan Ahead
The key to marketing success is planning! Look at which events happen annually and plan your content around those days. If there’s a day that doesn’t exist, get creative. Create a day specifically for your organization’s mission.
Be Authentic
Gone are the days where you including multiple hashtags on social media posts or sharing content that’s trendy or trying to be trendy with no substance. Your audience, and by extension, your supporters, can see through this immediately and no one is going to share content that isn’t real, authentic, and true to your mission.
You don’t have to only pick one cause awareness day, but make sure those that you do pick support your mission. If your organization is working to raise health awareness in children, you may pick cause awareness months like Childhood Obesity Awareness Month in September while also curating content around cause awareness days like:
January 17 to 23: Healthy Weight Week
February 3: National Girls and Women in Sports Day
October 11 to 15: National School Lunch Week
Be Consistent
If you’re creating a campaign around World Wildlife Day, make sure to use the same branding and messaging for your content across the board – social media, email campaigns, blog posts, and the campaign page. Cause awareness days are all about urgency and tapping into the moment, be sure to present a cohesive message and call-to-action for your supporters to act now.
Below are some of the most well-known cause awareness days so that you can start brainstorming awesome content to share with your supporters! One important note – the cause awareness days are based on where the day falls during that calendar year, and not a specific day that is maintained year over year. For example, International Literacy Day takes place on Tuesday, September 8th but falls on Wednesday, September 8th next year. Always double check if you’re planning campaigns for 2021!
August Cause Awareness Days
1: World Lung Cancer Day
1: National Minority Donor Awareness Day
4: National Night Out
8: International Cat Day
9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
12: International Youth Day
12: World Elephant Day
15: World Honey Bee Day
17: National Nonprofit Day
17: International Homeless Animal Day
19: World Humanitarian Day
26: International Dog Day
The week of August 1 is World Breastfeeding Week
Cause Awareness for the Month of August
American Indian Heritage Month
Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month
National Water Quality Month
National Immunization Awareness Month
Psoriasis Awareness Month
September Cause Awareness Days
5: International Day of Charity
7: Labor Day (United States)
8: International Literacy Day
10: World Suicide Prevention Day
13: National Celiac Awareness Day
15: International Day of Democracy
21: World Alzheimer’s Day
21: International Day of Peace
22: World Rhino Day
28: World Rabies Day
29: World Heart Day
29: World Rivers Day
30: National Women’s Health and Fitness Day
The week of September 6 is National Suicide Prevention Week
Cause Awareness for the Month of September
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
Gynecological Cancer Awareness Month
Hunger Awareness Month
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Baby Safety Month
Leukemia Awareness Month
Lymphoma Awareness Month
Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month
Infant Mortality Awareness Month
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Sickle Cell Awareness Month
Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
World Alzheimer’s Month
October Cause Awareness Days
2: International Day of Nonviolence
4: World Animal Day
5: World Teachers Day
6: World Cerebral Palsy Day
6: World Habitat Day
8: National Depression Screening Day
8: World Sight Day
10: World Mental Health Day
10: World Homeless Day
11: International Day of the Girl
12: Indigenous Peoples’ Day (United States)
12: World Arthritis Day
16: World Food Day
16: National Mammography Day
17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
24: United Nations Day
29: World Internet Day
29: World Psoriasis Day
The week of October 5 is Malnutrition Awareness Week
The week of October 4 is National Fire Prevention Week
The week of October 18 is National Health Education Week
The week of October 23 is Red Ribbon Week
Cause Awareness for the Month of October
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
ADHD Awareness Month
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Down Syndrome Awareness Month
Energy Awareness Month
Healthy Lungs Month
Learning Disabilities Awareness Month
LGBT History Month
National Liver Cancer Awareness Month
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) Awareness Month
