What Giving Day Type is Best for My Organization?
Giving Days are 24-hour (or longer) digital fundraising challenges that aim to rally groups of people to support a particular region, cause, event, or organization. They generate excitement and create a sense of unity for all involved, all while raising funds and filling critical needs.
Over the past few years, the effectiveness of these Giving Days has grown significantly as more philanthropic leaders begin to adopt this online fundraising strategy. The GiveGab platform supported its first Giving Day in 2015 and has since expanded to provide the technology powering over 217 Giving Days in 2020 alone.
GiveGab 2020 Giving Days
As we grow in this space, we continue to work with organizations that range broadly in type, size, and capacity. Traditionally, Giving Days were primarily hosted by Community Foundations and United Ways for their member nonprofits within a particular region and by universities to rally support from their alma mater. Today, we still see these types of Giving Days PLUS many more, which include universities, public media groups, K-12 schools, hospital foundations, individual nonprofit organizations, and more.
The most recent trend we’re seeing at GiveGab is the use of Giving Days to replace in-person events altogether. By hosting a completely virtual event, our partners have significantly reduced overhead costs while creating a more accessible place for donors to give back.
Because there are so many ways you can run a successful Giving Day, we’ve outlined real-life examples of the most common types we have supported on our platform thus far. Enjoy!:)
- Civic Giving Days
- Education Giving Days
- Public Media Giving Days
- Hospital Network and Foundation Giving Days
Civic Giving Days
A civic fundraising event is the most well-established form of Giving Day. As mentioned above, this Giving Type is the most common and tends to encompass a larger network of nonprofits. They are focused on raising awareness around organizations operating in a specific geographic region or community. This type of Giving Day is most commonly hosted by a Community Foundation, United Way, Nonprofit Network, or Chamber of commerce.
Regional/Community Based Giving Days
By having the Giving Day hyper-focused within a specific region, you will be able to appeal to a group of supporters with close ties and connections with the participating nonprofits. This means that supporters will be more likely to rally behind specific causes and become more involved with the success of your day. With a Region-Based Giving Day on GiveGab, you will be able to create a branded website that will be recognizable to your donors and nonprofits and represents that community that you all love.
Cattaraugus Gives is a regional Giving Day hosted by the Cattaraugus Community Foundation serving nonprofits operating in Cattaraugus, NY. On GivingTuesday 2019, they celebrated their first Giving Day raising $110,996 for 57 organizations – while in 2020, their results more than doubled bringing in $252,942 for their community in just 24-hours. We interviewed Kirk Windus, Communications and Fund Development Manager of the Cattaraugus Community Foundation to talk about his experience running a Community-Based Giving Day on GiveGab.
The Missoula Community Foundation hosts one of the longest-running regional Giving Days every spring for nonprofits operating in Missoula, Montana. Missoula Gives has always been viewed as a celebration in the Missoula community with events and a push for nonprofits to engage with their community. Their primary focus of the day is community involvement and highlighting those who work tirelessly to keep their community clean, healthy, and happy. Missoula Gives went virtual for their 2020 event with nearly 26 hours of live streaming! Check out their story below:
State-Wide Giving Days
State-wide Giving Days have the power to bring an entire state together to celebrate the spirit of philanthropy. With organizations participating across various regions, the collective impact generated throughout the day will be nothing short of awe-inspiring. These days tend to have a larger pool of sponsors, allowing increased marketing efforts for awareness, and more prize options for greater engagement.
The Wyoming Nonprofit Network hosted their first state-wide Giving Day, WYO Gives, on July 15, 2020. With 130 participating organizations, the entirety of this vast state was represented creating a unifying force for good for all who call Wyoming home. Through a 24-hour Giving Day, the Wyoming Nonprofit Network was able to provide a secure, reliable, and efficient way for nonprofits to collaborate and grow together.
Our in-house Graphic Designers worked with The Wyoming Nonprofit Network to create a Giving Day logo that represented their state and created a sense of unity amongst all participating in the day. Get a glimpse of the WYO Gives creative journey below.
Get a Behind-The-Scenes Look at Our Design Process
In episode 7 of our podcast, Giving & Gabbing, we interviewed Deborah Clark, Information & Technology Director at the NH Center for Nonprofits. Her team has hosted their annual state-wide Giving Day, NH Gives, with GiveGab since 2016. Their fifth NH Gives took place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that left nonprofits throughout New Hampshire vulnerable and in need of greater support.
The NH Center for Nonprofits took this as their driving motivation to work more closely with community members to generate a greater sense of unity and involvement. Because of these new community partnerships, NH Gives was able to flourish and raised an incredible $3,372,355 for nonprofits participating in the day.
Nonprofit Network Giving Days
This type of Giving Day was designed to support organizations that operate on a national scale with affiliates or chapters providing services in local communities. Typically, these affiliate organizations are widely spread and vary in needs, size, and capacity, but still work towards a common goal or mission. As a Nonprofit Network, hosting a Giving Day for your affiliates means that you are providing a means for them to come together and use the momentum of a large campaign to raise awareness for their cause within the local communities they serve.
Family Promise is a national organization serving the homeless population and low-income families with over 200 affiliates nation-wide. They use GiveGab as their unifying platform to allow them all to take part in online fundraising initiatives securely and effectively. Family Promise has now launched four large campaigns for their affiliates, including Family Promise Week and a Coronavirus Emergency Response campaign. Through their giving site, affiliate organizations are able to share their stories, post matching opportunities, engage in peer-to-peer fundraising, and more!
We recently interviewed Cara and Sandy from Family Promise National in an episode of the Giving & Gabbing podcast, where they discuss the importance of Bringing Your Nonprofit Network Together for Online Giving.
Bringing Your Nonprofit Network Together for Online Giving with Family
Single Organization Giving Days
We are seeing a new Giving Day trend in which larger nonprofits are hosting their own unique Giving Days. Rather than having a single profile within a Regional or State-Wide Giving Day, these organizations have their own branded Giving Day site to direct their supporters to. They are given the same great tools, such as best-in-class project management, downloads to promote their day, and functionality to boost donor engagement. By having their own Giving Day, they are able to concentrate their marketing efforts around one single cause allowing for greater outreach and involvement.
North Tampa Young Life was able to use its Giving Day site to take part in peer-to-peer fundraising to reach a wide network of donors. Those already affiliated with Young Life were able to raise funds on behalf of the Giving Day while sharing on social media why this cause was so important to them, and the impact the organization had on their lives. By having fundraisers promote the Giving Day, they were able to capture a larger audience of those who may not have previously known about the event or Young Life, but are now interested in learning more.
The Cradle, an adoption agency in Evanston, IL, hosted its first Giving Day on GivingTuesday 2020 to provide its donors with a modern and secure site to give back through during the holiday season.
The Cradle also used peer-to-peer fundraising as a key strategy to increase engagement during their day. On the homepage of their Giving Day site, there was a clear call to action for supporters to sign up to create a fundraiser and provided additional support to those looking to find someone else’s page. They also generated excitement, and a little friendly competition, through their leaderboards. Their interactive leaderboards showcased peer-to-peer fundraisers that had raised the most or had gotten the greatest number of donors during their event.
Education Giving Days
An increasing number of K-12 schools, colleges, and universities are making Giving Days an important part of their overall fundraising and engagement strategy. These 24-hour (or longer) fundraising challenges go beyond inspiring a school’s alumni to give, with participation seen from faculty, students, and even non-affiliated members of their local communities.
K-12 Schools
Running a Giving Day for your K-12 school is a powerful way to teach your students the importance of giving back by creating an environment where philanthropy is not just welcomed, it is highly encouraged! They also provide a way to showcase the efforts made by your students, teachers, and faculty in addition to highlighting to the community your school’s greatest needs or gaps.
Our K-12 Giving Day partners typically host exciting challenges throughout the day to better engage with their students and supporters.
Wichita Collegiate School hosts an annual Day of Giving with GiveGab in October to raise support for their Collegiate Annual Fund Effort (CAFÉ). This fund allows the school to pursue programs and projects that it might not otherwise have the budget for. WCS is able to use its Giving Day to demonstrate the needs of the school while creating an engaging event for its community. During their October 2020 Giving Day, donors were able to work together to unlock $100,000 in additional funds during a day-long challenge. Learn more about WCS in their case study available here!
Crusader Day of Giving was created to benefit Brother Rice High School located in Chicago, IL. They held their first Giving Day with GiveGab on May 5 to celebrate the feast day of Blessed Edmund Rice. By tying their event to a significant date, Brother Rice was able to highlight the school’s needs at a time that resonated most with its supporters.
While gifts went to a singular fund, they were able to create engagement amongst donors through a leaderboard that tracked which graduation class contributed the most. They also offered matches and challenges throughout the day that automatically released additional funds into their total raised when specific milestones were met. Matt Kelly, Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving Programs at Brother Rice High School, was also featured in an episode of Giving & Gabbing; check it out below!
Higher Education Giving Days
Our Higher Education partners leverage their Giving Day as a way to showcase the work of their departments, student groups, and programs. They are created to inspire the school’s community and alum to further engage with and support important initiatives throughout campus and to fill immediate needs.
“If you’re reading this, you probably understand how much work it is to plan a big day of giving. We signed on with GiveGab as we started to plan for our 6th annual day of giving and we could not be more satisfied with this decision. They’re organized, they do what they say they will and most importantly, they actually care. Sometimes I forget they have other clients because of how attentive and helpful they have been for us. They’re like an extension of our team and I have yet to find that level of support with any other provider!” – Colleen Fida, Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Ursinus College
Notre Dame University hosts its wildly successful Giving Day to create a space for their Notre Dame family to come together and raise money for their favorite areas of campus. Each participating area creates its own profile within the Giving Day site to share information and collect donations. To generate excitement throughout the day, they host a Notre Dame Day broadcast featuring inspiring stories of students and alum, performances from student groups, tours of campus buildings, and so much more! They also utilize challenges through their Giving Day site to incentivize donors to unlock additional funds for the area they wish to give to.
“GiveGab’s Giving Day product is robust, secure, and well-maintained. Their product team helped us develop the Giving Day site of our dreams, and with the help of their amazing product and customer success teams, we surpassed our goals. Our expectations were high and GiveGab delivered.”-Brandon Tabor, Director of Marketing Operations for Notre Dame University
Public Media
Having accessible and trusted news sources have become more important than ever in our current landscape. Public Media organizations have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for racial justice, and we rely on them to provide stories that keep us all safe and engaged, especially during times of crisis. Through a Giving Day, your Public Media organization can solicit necessary funding and support to continue providing informative programming for both children and adults in a multitude of ways.
NewsMatch is an incredible two-month-long campaign creating awareness around nonprofit newsrooms operating throughout the United States. From November 1 through December 31, members of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) can encourage their supporters to give back through the NewsMatch site so that their donations can be amplified through matching funds provided by a coalition of funders. Through this site, participating newsrooms are able to create their own unique profiles to share their stories and solicit support for their campaigns. Since the first NewsMatch in 2016, over $100 million has been raised to jumpstart emerging newsrooms and support independent media outlets that produce fact-based, nonpartisan news and information. Learn more about NewsMatch 2020 below!
WGTE Day of Giving, hosted by WGTE Public Media in Toledo, OH, holds an annual fundraising event allowing this organization to further their work in providing educational programming for their viewers in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. WGTE was able to use their Giving Day to highlight $25,000 in matching funds provided by The Clement O. Miniger Memorial Foundation. Donors are encouraged to visit the WGTE site to check the progress of the fundraiser and have their donations doubled. As a single organization event, WGTE had its own branded and recognizable site with all donations going through one profile.
Hospital Foundations and Networks
Hospital fundraising is getting more attention following the COVID-19 pandemic and with good reason. With the increased need for expensive medical equipment like respirators and the decline of elective surgeries, hospitals throughout the United States are struggling.
For Hospital Foundations, Giving Days are a solution that goes beyond crisis relief by getting to the heart of their mission, elevating awareness, engagement, and support unlike any other form of fundraising available today.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of their two in-person fundraising Galas, Cayuga Health System partnered with GiveGab to rally support for Cayuga Medical Center and Schuyler Hospital. During their first 24-hour #CayugaGivingDay held on June 20, 2020, the local community came together to raise $155,260 to raise essential funding for their local Health System.
“When our in-person events were canceled for the safety of our attendees and donors, we needed a safe way to still raise the necessary funds for our hospital system. GiveGab gave us that way with hosting a Giving Day. The planning period was much smaller than the time we put into our events and our expenses were far lower, with increased net revenue. This experience allowed not only the hospitals to maintain optimal service, but it gave our donors a way to express their gratitude for our front-line workers in a meaningful way.” – Tiffany Bloss, Foundation Director of The Schuyler Health Foundation
Read more about the impact that #CayugaGivingDay had in Cayuga Health System’s response to Covid-19 in their case study below.
Each Giving Day partner we have has unique needs, motivations, and goals. At GiveGab, we strive to provide fundraising professionals with an easy, enjoyable, and effective platform with world-class support to achieve their fundraising needs. Chat with a member of our Engagement Team to learn more about which Giving Day is right for you!
