Did you know that nearly 40% of people are more likely to trust businesses that embrace diversity and inclusion in their marketing? To build trust with your audience and ensure your marketing makes an impact, you’ll want to think about all the ways you can embrace diversity and inclusion throughout the year.
Luckily, using a diversity and inclusion calendar takes the guesswork out of which causes and observances your business needs to acknowledge. Today, we’ll walk through a complete diversity calendar, along with diversity and inclusion marketing tips, to help you source inspiration and ideas to make your marketing friendly, inviting, and accessible to your entire customer base.
Table of contents
Click to jump to the diversity calendar dates for each month:
🗓 Download our complete 2024 marketing calendar for year-round social media posts, email subject lines, promotion ideas, and more!
Quick tips for your 2024 diversity and inclusion marketing
Before getting into the diversity calendar for 2024, let’s review the top five best practices to follow when implementing a diverse and inclusive marketing strategy.
1. Use AI tools with caution
You always want to be careful when using artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing, especially when you’re implementing diverse and inclusive campaigns. If you decide to use a generative AI application to help you create your diversity and inclusion marketing content, be sure only to use it for your initial brainstorming and drafting phases. You’d be in good company with this strategy, as AI statistics show that two-thirds of businesses are using AI for drafts, outlines, and brainstorming.
While AI can be helpful to get you started with a marketing initiative, it can’t always think through or anticipate cultural sensitivities like a person would. Diverse and inclusive marketing starts with a “human touch,” so be sure you’re the one editing and finalizing your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) campaigns before they go live.
2. Use hashtags and emojis when appropriate
Emojis are a no-brainer when doing any type of sale or promotion since they help you catch your audience’s eye. Hashtags also do this, but their main purpose is to help your business get found in social media feeds. Using a combination of both in your diversity and inclusion social media posts, emails, and more makes your campaigns more effective.
However, if you decide to acknowledge a particularly sensitive diversity holiday, you may want to rein in your emoji and hashtag use. The key here is to research whatever diversity and inclusion holiday you’d like to target ahead of time. See if other businesses or creators have used hashtags and emojis and base your usage of these elements on that.
3. Connect your business back to your chosen cause
When you’re determining whether or not to highlight a diversity and inclusion holiday in your marketing, be sure it aligns with your brand messaging and look for ways to tie it back to your business. For example, if you’re building out your dental marketing, you might share low-cost oral healthcare tips for Poverty in America Awareness Month.
4. Try influencer marketing
When you’re struggling to connect a diversity and inclusion holiday back to your business, lean on influencer marketing instead. Influencers can be a great alternative when you’re looking for sensitive and impactful ways to do diversity and inclusion marketing. Going the influencer route can also come in handy if you don’t feel comfortable speaking on a certain topic you and your employees may not be able to authentically relate to. Instead, find an influencer involved with your holiday or cause who can represent your business and accurately speak on the topic. This gives them a platform while also educating your audience.
5. Put purpose behind each promotion
While making your business’s community diverse and inclusive is the main goal of DEI marketing, you ultimately also want these efforts to help grow your business. Try to find ways to work calls to action into your diversity and inclusion holiday social media posts, search and display ads, and more. That way, you can connect your diversity and inclusion marketing efforts back to your business goals, like growing your social media engagement, driving traffic to your website, and more.
Diversity calendar marketing ideas for 2024
Make all your audience members feel included with this diversity calendar list full of social media holidays, monthly observances, and more.
January
To start your diversity marketing efforts on the right foot, try to touch on some of January’s diversity and inclusion holidays and observances. For example, you could hold a month-long donation drive for Poverty in America Awareness Month. That way, you’ll have material to post about on social media and beyond for every day of the month.
- National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
- Poverty in America Awareness Month
- National Glaucoma Awareness Month
- Cervical Health Awareness Month
- January 4: World Braille Day
- January 11: National Human Trafficking Awareness Day
- January 13: Korean American Day
- January 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- January 18 Bodhi Day
- January 21: World Religions Day
- January 27: International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust
💡 Find out how to maximize your diversity marketing with our best ways to promote your business.
February
In February, you can find opportunities to work diversity and inclusion into your marketing all month long. For example, be sure to acknowledge Black History Month—this could be through partnering with a Black-owned business or sharing with your audience your favorite Black heroes throughout history.
- Black History Month
- American Heart Month
- February 1: National Freedom Day
- February 10: Lunar New Year
- February 13: Mardi Gras
- February 14: Frederick Douglass’ Birthday
- February 15: Susan B. Anthony’s Birthday
- February 20: World Day of Social Justice
March
Similar to January and February, March also has some monthly observances you won’t want to miss. Women’s History Month is the perfect time for you to showcase and shout out all the women who make your business great—whether it be employees, customers, or friends and family. Alternatively, you could crowdsource March diversity calendar content by asking your followers or customers to tag your business in their Holi (the Hindu Festival of Colours) celebrations, Easter festivities, or Ramadan reflections and activities.
- Women’s History Month
- National MS Education and Awareness Month
- Developmental Disability Awareness Month
- March 2: Granting of U.S. Citizenship to Puerto Ricans
- March 7: Purim
- March 8: International Women’s Day
- March 8: Holi
- March 10: Harriet Tubman’s Birthday
- March 10: Ramadan
- March 21: World Down Syndrome Day
- March 31: Easter
April
Celebrate Diversity Month should be a no-brainer to highlight in April. For example, you could write a blog post that reviews the top ways your business celebrates diversity. Another idea to add to your April marketing plan: Run a sale or promotion that incentivizes customers to buy your green products for Earth Day.
- Celebrate Diversity Month
- Paralyzed Veterans Awareness Month
- Sexual Assualt Awareness Month
- April 2: World Autism Awareness Day
- April 6: Tartan Day
- April 22: Earth Day
- April 22-30: Passover
May
Odds are, some of your employees and customers likely have a personal connection to mental health issues. That’s why Mental Health Awareness Month is a can’t-miss observance for your business this March. A creative way to work this into your marketing is to start with a list of mental health tips and resources you can share out on social media, over email, in a blog post, and more. With this diversity calendar idea, you show your audience you truly care about the well-being of your brand’s community.
- Mental Health Awareness Month
- ALS Awareness Month
- May 4: National Day of Prayer
- May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
- May 19: Malcolm X’s Birthday
- May 26: Buddha’s birthday
June
LGBT Pride Month is a June observance you’ll want your business to be a part of. Just be sure to do your Pride Month Marketing tastefully, and not performatively, to keep your brand efforts authentic. Don’t forget about other June diversity and inclusion holidays, too, like Juneteenth—which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
- LGBT Pride Month
- National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month
- June 2: Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
- June 12: Loving day
- June 18: International Day of COuntering Hate Speech
- June 19: Juneteenth
- June 22: Windrush Day
July
July has plenty of individual holidays and observances to incorporate as part of your DEI efforts. To start, you could wish your followers and customers a happy Hijri New Year—which is the Islamic New Year. Additionally, sharing inspirational stories for National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month could help your business market with emotion throughout the month.
- Disability Pride Month
- National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
- July 2: Thurgood Marshall’s Birthday
- July 6: Dalai Lama’s Birthday
- July 8: Hijri New Year
- July 14: International Non-Binary People’s Day
- July 25: Americans with Disabilities Act
August
August has several holidays and observances you can highlight as part of your diversity and inclusion efforts. For example, you could run a social media contest or giveaway for Women’s Equity Day by having your audience participate in a Women’s History trivia quiz.
- Intersectionality Awareness Month
- National Immunization Awareness Month
- August 9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
- August 18: Lord Krishna’s Birthday
- August 26: Women’s Equity Day
- August 31: International Day of People of African Descent
September
Like August, September also has a gender equality celebration day called HeForShe. You could hashtag a social media post with #heforshe as you educate your followers on the movement for gender equality on this September holiday. Another diversity marketing example for September would be to create a shareable playlist of peaceful songs for International Day of Peace using public streaming platforms like Spotify or Pandora. From there, your customers can listen along with you as they celebrate the holiday. Just be sure to include your small business logo and business name within your playlist’s page so your brand stays top of mind as your audience listens in.
- National Hispanic Heritage Month
- National Suicide Prevention Month
- National Recovery Month
- September 4: Richard Wright’s Birthday
- September 11: Patriot Day
- September 20: HeForShe
- September 21: International Day of Peace
October
October’s diversity and inclusion calendar is jam-packed, so be sure to get ahead of your DEI strategy for this month beforehand. To start, Global Diversity Awareness Month gives your business’s DEI marketing its time to shine. Use this monthly observance as your chance to discuss all the ways your business is actively participating in making the world a more diverse and inclusive place. For example, you might mention your diverse hiring programs to build your employer branding or shout out the diversity organizations you support in your community. On a more somber note, you might share reflection prompts your audience could use to commemorate Indigenous People’s Day.
- Global Diversity Awareness Month
- National Disability Employment Awareness Month
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- Down Syndrome Awareness Month
- October 2-4 ROsh Hashana
- October 9: Indigenous People’s Day
- October 10: World Mental Health Day
- October 14: Defender of Ukraine Day
- October 19: International Pronouns Day
November
Don’t let the whirlwind of Thanksgiving and Black Friday distract your business from all the diversity and inclusion opportunities November has to offer. Your audience may be paying more attention to other November holidays, like Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. The best part of any diversity holiday? The food, of course! Try sharing a traditional Diwali recipe that your followers and customers are sure to love. Did you know more than 70% of adults use social media to find recipes? Use this statistic to your advantage but with a different approach. Sharing a Diwali dish (rather than your typical Thanksgiving recipe) could help your business stand out.
Another example of a November diversity observance is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. For this cause, you could share resources that could help your audience members impacted by Alzheimer’s Disease since nearly 7 million Americans are currently diagnosed with the illness.
- National Native American Heritage Month
- Men’s Health Awareness Month
- National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
- National DIabtes Awareness Month
- November 1: Diwali
- November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance
- November 24: Native American Heritage Day
🎁 Make the most of your business’s holiday season with our free holiday marketing guide.
December
To wrap up the 2024 diversity calendar, December has a few key dates you’ll want to pay attention to. An easy win for this month is to transform your Christmas promotions into Hanukkah and Kwanzaa marketing tactics. For example, you could use a tool like Canva to swap out your Christmas ad creative to match the different December holidays. Additionally, you could look into ways your business could donate time or resources to a local human rights organization for International Human Rights Day. Just be sure to take plenty of pictures and videos to celebrate your participation in Human Rights Day on social media.
- December 1: World Aids Day
- December 10: International Human Rights Day
- December 21: Winter Solstice/Yule
- December 25: Christmas
- December 25-January 2: Hanukkah
- December 26-January 1: Kwanzaa
2024 diversity calendar
Be sure to save this diversity calendar so that you can refer back to it throughout the year! You can download the full marketing and diversity calendar for free here.
This complete diversity calendar list proves there are endless opportunities for your business to practice diversity, equity, and inclusion any day of the year. With a bit of mindfulness, inspiration, and research, you can show your audience you care about the causes that matter most to them.
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