Nonprofit Champion: Doug from Math Circles of Chicago
Math Circles of Chicago is a nonprofit organization that provides students throughout Chicago, IL, in grades 5-12 with novel opportunities to learn math, empowering them with new mathematical skills and encouraging them to develop a life-long love for the subject.
Doug O’Roark, Executive Director for Math Circles of Chicago, provided us with some background about the work being done at their organization:
“We are passionate about this work because we believe that we provide a kind of academic experience that is transformative. We know that people develop expertise when they are made curious, when they have the play, when they learn new things. Not all children have experienced that kind of learning environment when it comes to math. Giving kids that opportunity drives our work.”
Math Circles of Chicago participated in Illinois’ statewide Giving Day, #ILGive 2016, with incredible fundraising results. Doug shared his personal experience using GiveGab’s technology platform for us to use in a case study and also highlighted some of the work they did behind the scenes to help make their participation so successful.
Giving Day Strategy
Although they already had strong connections within their community, Doug said that the GiveGab platform made it even easier and more effective to reach out about this fundraising effort. The key to getting things moving was to get their leading members (their board members and math faculty) committed to being involved.
“Using GiveGab’s site allowed us to get our message across in a more individually tailored way.”
Promoting the day involved spreading the word via email, Facebook, and Twitter, with Facebook providing the most value.
Fundraising Results
Math Circles of Chicago raised over $21,000 from 241 donors for #ILGive 2016!
Doug told us that they exceeded their annual fundraising goal through this one fundraiser, raising 50% more than anticipated for the entire year.
“This has given us the confidence to plan for future expansion with a greater belief in our fundraising prowess.”
Congratulations to Match Circles of Chicago on Your Success!
You are truly Nonprofit Champions
