Read Case 6.1: #GivingTuesday on pages 170-171 of your Worth Book. Answer questions 2 and 4 in the Questions for Discussion section:
#2. What might be some strategies a nonprofit could employ to assure that it develops continuing relationships with donors who make a first gift as a part of #GivingTuesday?
#4. Think about a fundraising event you attended. Did it provide guests with information about the organization and its mission that might have encouraged them to become regular donors? If not, how might the event have been improved to accomplish that objective?
Pages 170-171
In 2012, Harry Timms, deputy director of the 92nd Street Y in New York, was thinking about what had become known as Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when many people begin their holiday shopping, and what has become known as Cyber Monday, when holi-day shopping online spikes. He wondered how the power of those brands might be con-nected with the fact that a third of all charitable gifts are made in the last three months of the year. Could a tradition similar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday be developed to create a national day of giving? Timms and the 92nd Street Y thought that might be possible and came up with the idea of #GivingTuesday (Gowen, 2012).#GivingTuesday would not be one solicitation program but rather a movement in which nonprofit organizations and business partners would cooperate to bring visibility to giving, with each organization undertaking its own promotions, solicitations, and events on the same day (#GivingTuesday website).The idea gained immediate support in 2012. The UN Foundation joined the 92nd Street Y as a partner, and a “Team of Influencers” was assembled, including prominent executives of technology companies. Dozens of websites that combine online giving and social media joined the effort, and prominent philanthropists, such as the Case Foundation, offered to match gifts (Gowen, 2012). Over 2,500 nonprofit partners joined the campaign, and giving on Tuesday, November 27, 2012, increased significantly over the year before on the same date (#GivingTuesday website). Although most gifts were made online, some organizations leveraged the visibility of #GivingTuesday using traditional methods as well. For example, The Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore conducted a phonathon and raised $1 million, including a $100,000 gift (Flandez, 2012a).The second #GivingTuesday, conducted in 2013, brought significant growth. The com-pany Blackbaud reported that gifts it processed increased by 90 percent from 2012, and Network for Good handled $1.8 million in online gifts, up from $1 million the year before (Flandez & Frostenson, 2013). Baltimore’s The Associated was again the most successful organization, as part of a coordinated effort among Baltimore nonprofits called Bmore Gives More. The goal for Bmore Gives More was $5 million in total, which was exceeded by CHAPTER 6 Annual-Giving Programs171$500,000 (Flandez & Frostenson, 2013). The 2013 effort achieved notable visibility. #Giving Tuesday was the number one trending topic on Twitter and was recognized by a display of lights in Times Square. More than 10,000 partners participated, in all fifty states and abroad (Ditcoff & Timms, 2013).Despite success in its first two years, #GivingTuesday did attract some expressions of concern and caution. Some skeptics wondered if it would increase overall giving through-out the year or just on that one day. Another concern was that #GivingTuesday would reward digitally savvy nonprofits but that small organizations would perhaps be disad-vantaged. Some expressed concern that concentrating giving on one day might preempt giving that would otherwise occur throughout the year or at year-end through traditional solicitation programs. However, others minimized the latter concern. For example, after the 2012 campaign, Marc Terrill, president of The Associated in Baltimore, was asked if he was worried that #GivingTuesday might preempt other year-end gifts. “Not at all,” he replied, “because these people [#GivingTuesday donors] have now said, ‘I’m here, I’m counted, I’m going to contribute’” (Flandez, 2012a).Some cautioned that organizations should be careful to use #Giving Tuesday as the beginning of relationships with donors and not to see it as a one-time transaction ( Watson, 2013a). As Watson (2013b) advised, “Organizations [should] view Giving Tuesday as another potential on-ramp for engagement—one of many throughout the year. It should be seen as a window of opportunity to appeal to more potential donors, and build support over time—rather than as a destination for most year-end giving. Perhaps the focus on philanthropy can encourage more involvement, even tied to the big holiday shopping push. But it should not evolve into the main giving day of the year. Given what’s at stake in the U.S. nonprofit sector, engagement is a year-round goal.”Note: Students may wish to keep abreast of #GivingTuesday results in subsequent years. The movement is widely reported in the media and updates can be obtained from the # Giving Tuesday website (http://www.givingtuesday.org).Questions for Discussion1. Some critics note that total philanthropy in the United States has remained at about 2 percent of gross domestic product for many years. If that continues to be true, what might be the impact of efforts like #GivingTuesday on the nonprofit sector and on specific nonprofit organizations? In other words, if such efforts do not affect the overall total of philanthropy, how might they affect patterns of giving?2. What might be some strategies a nonprofit could employ to assure that it develops continuing relationships with donors who make a first gift as a part of #GivingTuesday?3. What are some ways in which a nonprofit organization might undertake a multichannel strategy in connection with its participation in #GivingTuesday and similar initiatives?4. Think about a fundraising event you attended. Did it provide guests with information about the organization and its mission that might have encouraged them to become regular donors? If not, how might the event have been improved to accomplish that objective?
MLA 9th Edition (Modern Language Assoc.)
Michael J. Worth. Fundraising : Principles and Practice. SAGE Publications, Inc, 2016.
APA 7th Edition (American Psychological Assoc.)
Michael J. Worth. (2016). Fundraising : Principles and Practice. SAGE Publications, Inc.
