Charities that want to organize a local or regional online “giving day” - or participate in one, and share in the money raised - should consider the following advice from organizers of previous events:
Make sure there’s enough time and manpower. It’s a big effort. Most giving days have been sponsored by community foundations, and several have spun off as separate nonprofit organizations. Year-round staff is necessary, including a person assigned to handle the Web site. Communications staff members often train charity leaders on topics such as how to use social marketing and social media to reach donors on giving day. Fund raising departments provide tips on how to raise matching money or build successful events on give day. Later, the finance team may spend days handling payments.
Grant Oliphant, chief executive of the Pittsburgh Foundation, which sponsors Pittsburgh Day of Giving events, estimates that a giving day can cost as much as $100,000, if staff time is included. He sees it as an investment, providing a way into the online future for small and large organizations, and offering the local donor community a wealth of financial and other information in one place.
Russell Jackson, chief operating officer for the Alabama Association of Nonprofits, thinks $35,000 may be enough to start a first statewide giving day in Alabama
Choose the date wisely. Hold the event when donors are likely to be paying attention, say giving-day organizers. (For that reason, they say, avoid the summer vacation season.) Some “giving days” are scheduled to take advantage of the holiday giving season: Colorado Gives Day is in early December. Minnesota’s Give to the Max takes place in November; Colorado Gives Day is in early December. However, the Pittsburgh Foundation often sponsors an event in October, specifically so it won’t compete with holiday fund raising. Organizers of a giving day in Dallas are looking at a September date for this year’s event.
Watch out for competition. Consider whose fund raising efforts may be hurt by a giving-day event that benefits multiple charities. GiveMN, which organizes Minnesota’s annual Give to the Max days, made United Way one of its first partners. The two organizations held discussions on how to complement each other’s efforts to raise money. In both 2009 and 2010, Give to the Max dates were set so there would not be any conflict with United Way’s workplace campaigns.
Offer donation matches. Matches can come from foundations, corporations, or individual donors, and they spur gifts. Minnesota charities raise their own match money for Give to the Max Day. The match formula should be simple and easy to understand, otherwise charities’ expectations could be too high, says Sasha Kakabadse, who handles public relations director for Get Up and Give! North Texas Giving Day, in Dallas. In 2009, Dallas charities expected the overall campaign to match their dollars, but the match fund was expended eight minutes into day-long event, leaving disappointment in the air. In 2010, all 535 charities raising money during the 12-hour giving day received a share of available matching money: 16 cents on the dollar.
Negotiate favorable fees. Find a bank that will give the event a low credit-card processing fee. Many giving-day organizers have negotiated fees in the 1- and 2-percent range.
Lean hard on social media. Some charity leaders may want to promote the giving day with direct mail, billboards, and other paid media. Mr. Oliphant suggests using social media in innovative ways that are less costly and more effective. In short: Facebook and Twitter are free.
Brand it. Provide an easy-to-download kit for participating charities. “You want everyone having the same look and having the same talking points,” says Angela Bevacqua, communications specialist for Colorado Gives Day.
Hold donors’ hands. Have people available to help first-time online donors through the process. Mr. Kakabadse of the Get Up and Give! North Texas Giving Day publicized a telephone hotline for donors needing technical help, and he also answered questions on Facebook and Twitter.
Give the event physical expression. Online giving can be a very private activity. The challenge is to create a sense of community, say giving day organizers.
In Minnesota, a nonprofit citizen media group, The UpTake, did a Jerry Lewis-style telethon, providing a live online report all day on Give to the Max Day, which many charities linked to on their Web sites. The 24-hours telethon featured entertainers, stories about local charities and donors, and nonprofit leaders doing pitches about their organizations, with happy interruptions along the lines of, “We’ve raised another million!”
Keep it fresh. Columbus Foundation, in Ohio, has done five Match Day events, in which it matches money given by online donors, and each of them was different. One Match Day was focused on the arts, two were for a broader selection of local charities, and two were designed to support organizations that serve people’s basic needs. Grant Oliphant, chief executive of the Pittsburgh Foundation, which sponsors Pittsburgh Gives Day, advises, “Be prepared to let these events evolve.”
Get a slice of the pie. Participation in giving days typically is open to most area charities as long as they meet certain basic requirements and fill out an online profile. Colorado’s event, for example, wants to make sure the particpating charities are “in good standing in the commmunity,” Ms. Bevacqua says, meaning their financials are in order and available for donors to view, Ms. Bevacqua says. “It makes it easy for donors to feel comfortable about giving to a group online.”
Once selected as a potential beneficiary, it’s up to each charity to create some buzz in the community, say giving-day veterans. Photos and videos can help a charity engage donors perusing charity profiles on giving days. Having special events that call attention to the organizationcharity on the big day makes a difference.
Finally, says Dana Nelson, who oversees Minnesota’s Give to the Max events for GiveMN, “Convert your supporters to fund raisers. Social media makes it so easy to send a link to their friends and family. It’s their personal endorsement that matters.”