Giving Day Success Stories and Lessons Learned
Hosting a Giving Day is still a relatively new concept that began less than a decade ago. GiveGab has been at the forefront of innovating fundraising technology, developing a Giving Day platform that takes philanthropy to the next level. As this space continues to expand, our amazing partners help us identify what is working to drive year-over-year Giving Day growth and new focus areas for innovations that fit the needs of donors and participating organizations.
In our five years of experience providing support to hundreds of Giving Day hosts, we have built a network of leaders who are eager to help other organizations be wildly successful in their fundraising strategies to strengthen communities across the country.
In a GiveGab webinar hosted in January 2020, we invited three of our successful GiveGab partners to share the stories behind their Giving Day successes and how they continue to find new ways to grow and thrive. Our panelists’ experience ranged from hosting their first Giving Day to planning for their 7th day, demonstrating that there will always be new ideas and takeaways to engage your community.
Questions asked to the panel included:
- Why did you decide to host a Giving Day in your community?
- How did you get buy-in from the organizations in your community?
- How do you keep your Giving Day growing year after year?
- What has surprised you the most while running a Giving Day?
- What have been some of your biggest achievements a
s Giving Day hosts?
Nikki Robb, Kirk Windus, and Meagan Given brought their Giving Day strategies to the table by answering these questions. They are three Giving Day all-stars who have continued to go above and beyond in serving their communities.
About our Panelists:
Meagan Given is the head organizer for Give Local York, a 24-hour Giving Day in York, PA. Through this day, Megan helped her community raise over $3,021,000 for 317 nonprofits in 2019 and will be hosting the 3rd annual Give Local York event on May 1, 2020! Meagan and her team are known for their creative marketing ideas to drive high engagement from participating organizations, sponsors, donors!
“The continued collaborations between nonprofits and sponsors who met through the Giving Day and have continued a relationship. Through this day we help them forge relationships and create new projects year-round beyond the Give Day. It provides an opportunity for people to come together.”
Kirk Windus, Communications and Fund Development Manager, has been the leader of Cattaraugus Gives for several years. In 2019 his team at the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation made the switch to GiveGab’s Giving Day platform and helped 57 organizations raise over $110,000 for their causes on Giving Tuesday last year. Kirk’s passion to grow his communities philanthropic efforts led him to develop new and innovative ways to empower his participating organizations.
“I think what’s surprised me the most is that even some of the NPOs you might not expect to be superheroes on a Giving Day really do turn out to be. It’s just amazing when you work with them all the things they are capable of. Even groups that are completely volunteer-run the capacity that they have to fundraise then they are given the license to focus on that for a 24-hour period is really amazing and the effort that you pour into helping and to nurture that will pay back dividends if you do it in the right way. “
Nikki Robb, Program Manager, has been a partner with GiveGab for the last 4 years hosting Missoula Gives! Last year alone, Nikki and her team at the Missoula Community Foundation helped her community raise over $408,000 for 162
organizations and will be hosting their 7th annual Giving Day this spring! As one of the longest-running Giving Days, Missoula Gives, consistently strives for n
ew opportunities to expand its day and encourage collaboration among organizations.
“I have seen the effectiveness of learning how to do NPO fundraising and t
ell their story. Our NPOs who have been doing this for years are so successful on the Giving Day. I have seen them learn, grow, and take what they have learned from the giving day and use it throughout the year.”
We are so grateful to have had Meagan, Kirk, and Nikki on our GiveGab webinar. We hope that their insights and perspectives offer you the confidence to grow your Giving Day legacy. You can watch the recording at any time for a little burst of inspiration!
