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January 24, 2013, 5:40 pm
Giving Will Barely Rise in 2013, Report Predicts
Environmental groups chalked up bigger increases than any other causes, according to the Atlas for Giving. (Photo by Cristina Mittermeier/LCP/Conservation International)
Giving in 2013 is expected to rise only 1.6 percent from last year, according to a new report, making it one of the worst fundraising years in five decades, projects the Atlas for Giving, an independent forecasting service.
Among the reasons for the gloom: The stock market is likely to tumble, the unemployment rate will remain stubbornly high, health-insurance costs will surge, and the 2-percent payroll-tax increase that took effect in 2013 will make people stingier, the Atlas’s analysis believe.
“The less people take home, the less they have to give,” says Rob Mitchell, chief executive of Atlas of Giving.
The forecast doesn’t take…
January 17, 2013, 9:36 am
A Light Touch Draws New Donors to Suicide-Prevention Charity
To raise money, a suicide-prevention charity tries to make people happier.
What can you do when donors don’t give because your charity works on painful, unpleasant, or controversial issues?
One solution is to change people’s perception of the work you do. Samaritans, a Boston charity that helps prevent suicide, took that approach and is already attracting more corporate aid as a result.
Instead of talking about death and the depression associated with suicide, Samaritans is focusing on the opposite—life and happiness—in a publicity campaign called Happier Boston.
The idea came from Hill Holliday, an advertising company that donated its services to come up with the campaign. The goal: changing people’s view of the charity and thus improving its ability to recruit corporate donors.
Instead of print a…
January 11, 2013, 11:57 am
Nearly $7-Million Raised in One-Day Online Contest
Columbia University raised $6.9-million, most of it online and in 24 hours, by running a contest to see which of its 16 schools could produce the most money for the institution’s annual fund.
Giving Day, held in October, was the brainchild of CloEve Demmer, director of Columbia’s annual fund. Ms. Demmer says she got the idea from a daylong online drive in Minnesota called Give to the Max day, which started in 2009.
The university recruited 14 alumni volunteers to train as leaders and assigned them to work with specific schools to help promote the contest.
The volunteers and Columbia staff member drummed up interest by asking people to start giving early to show their support for Giving Day and get some buzz about the event started in alumni and donor circles. By the time Giving Day officially started, it had raised $1-million and recruited about 100 volunteers.
They sent out…
January 3, 2013, 9:02 am
Online Giving Grew Fast in Fourth Quarter
The last week of December, usually a boom time in online donations, was fairly sluggish compared with 2011, according to figures from more than 8,700 charities whose performance The Chronicle has been tracking weekly since Thanksgiving. Nonetheless, the fourth quarter produced a surge in online gifts.
The amount donors contributed online fell by 1 percent, and the number of gifts declined by nearly 3 percent compared with the last week of 2011.
But overall results for the quarter are still impressive, largely because appeals in October and November produced strong returns, according to Network for Good, which has been providing data on charities it helps garner online gifts.
The total contributed in the last quarter through Network for Good grew 38 percent, while the number of online gifts rose 36 percent compared with the same time in 2011.
November was an especially strong …
December 27, 2012, 11:31 am
Charities Got Fewer but Bigger Online Gifts Last Week
The number of gifts people are making online slowed last week for the second time in a row, compared with this time a year ago, but because donors are giving much larger average gifts, charities are barely feeling a decline in donations.
The number of gifts fell 12 percent last week, following a decline of 6 percent in the second week of December.
Still, the total dollar value of online gifts dropped by less than 1 percent last week because the average online gift rose to $149.21, up from $131.92 in the same week of 2011.
Those figures, based on donations to 8,700 charities that accept donations through the nonprofit group Network for Good, come after a promising start to the giving season last month and in initial days of December. The increases were triggered in part by the number of appeals for Superstorm Sandy and #GivingTuesday, an effort to increase charitable giving…
December 26, 2012, 5:33 pm
Charities Use Mobile Apps to Attract Year-End Donors
A growing number of charities are seeking year-end gifts by reaching out to donors with mobile apps.
While few nonprofits expect to raise much through the apps, they hope the tools will serve them well in the future by appealing to younger, smartphone-savvy donors.
Here’s how three nonprofits are using apps:
Hunger Relief International struck a partnership with GetCharitable to raise money though an Android app. After people download the app, an image pops up daily on the background wallpaper of their phones. Advertisers donate to the charity based on how many people have the app running on their phones. Hunger Relief International receives 10 cents each day from everyone who has the app running.
Since the launch a few weeks ago, more than 100 people have downloaded the app. Its goal is to attract 1,000 people by the end of January, and as more people sign up,…
December 26, 2012, 12:49 pm
2012 Fundraising Outlook Is Bright for Many Charities
As charities seek to wrap up their fundraising campaigns for 2012, a Chronicle spot check of 125 nonprofits suggests that a majority will see contributions increase this year.
Nearly 60 percent of the 71 groups said that they expect 2012 donations to exceed what they raised in 2011.
Only about a quarter forecast a decrease, while another 16 percent expect contributions to be about the same this year as in 2011.
In a significant sign of progress, comparing 2012 with 2007, before the recession started, half the charities said they expect to surpass what they raised in 2007, 20 percent said giving will be about the same, and 30 percent predicted it will be less.
More than 100 of the groups said Superstorm Sandy has had no effect on year-end contributions.
Charities also provided some perspective on year-end online gifts. Weekly data provided to The Chronicle shows that…
December 20, 2012, 7:49 am
‘5 Weeks of Giving’ Campaign Reaches Out to Donors Every Day
Anthony Allen and Bryan Hall of the Baltimore Ravens autographed items for the “5 Weeks of Giving” kick-off event held by Volunteers of America Chesapeake.
Thirty-five days of nonstop outreach online are helping one charity raise money at year’s end.
Volunteers of America Chesapeake’s “5 Weeks of Giving” campaign aims to do something new for its supporters each day. For instance, on “Text Tuesday” it urges donors to donate $10 by sending a text message.
Other themed days include:
* “Motivation Monday,” when the charity features an inspirational quote on its Web site and social networks.
* “Wednesday’s Word,” when the charity spotlights on its site one of its values (caring, respect, faith, quality, and trust).
* “Thank You Thursday,” to highlight one big donor on social-media…
December 18, 2012, 4:58 pm
More Than $1-Million Raised for Newtown’s Survivors
More than $1-million has poured into a fund to help Newtown, Conn., and the survivors of the mass shooting there Friday, while a separate effort is raising at least $2,000 an hour online.
The United Way of Western Connecticut, which has created the biggest fund thus far, is now assembling people in Newtown to decide where the money should go.
Isabel Almeida, executive vice president of United Way, said her organization wants to be clear that it was just collecting the money, not setting priorities for distributing the money. “I live in Newtown and want to make sure we are benefiting the community directly. This is very raw and very emotional for us, which is why it’s important the community assesses what their short-term and long-term needs are in moving forward.”
On Friday, Brian Mauriello, a longtime Newtown resident who is vice president for sales at Kinsley Power…
December 18, 2012, 9:31 am
Year-End Online Gifts are Bigger, but Number of Donations Slows
Donors are making bigger online gifts to charity this month than they did last year at this time, but they are making fewer gifts, according to data provided by Network for Good, a giving site that provided information on online contributions to 8,700 charities.
Last week, the average online gift made through Network for Good was $122.55, up from $113.57 for the same week in 2011. The average gift size rose by a similar percentage in the previous week.
The gain could be a sign that concerns about the economy are starting to ease, says Katya Andresen, chief operating officer for the giving site. However, she noted that a growing number of companies are using Network for Good to run employee-giving drives, making year-to-year comparisons tricky.
And signs of a slowdown in the number of gifts last week could be worrisome. In the first week of December, the number of donations…
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