Giving is a good thing. The United Nations Foundation and the 92nd Street Y started a giving campaign in 2014 that has gone viral. CauseVox states that 2017 raised $125 million more than 2016 – $300 million in total.
They also point out that its a great time for donor education. 22 billion hits on nonprofit web pages happened that day in 2017.
I have a formula to see if it’s right for you, Find your expected Total Revenue. Multiply it by .1 and save the number. Now multiply that new number by .5 and you have a range. Do the charitable gifts that you expect this year plus Giving Tuesday fall within that range? If so, then you are robust enough in your charitable funding to invest the energy and work hours.
Let’s illustrate. The Rochester, NY YMCA 990 report had a revenue of $45 million dollars in 2017. $38 million was from fee for service so that was the primary financing plan. Because management is committed to protecting the agency, they should have set a goal for a 10% surplus of $4.5 million ($45 million x .1). They actually had a deficit of $2 million for 2016 and for 2017 so they need cash. (I’m available to coach 🙂
Because they know that priorities can change quickly, they also want a secondary source of financing (government contracts, charitable gifts, etc.) They take the surplus number of $4.5 million and multiply by .5 which equals $2.3 million. Their required range for donations as their secondary source is $2.3 – $4.5 million. Their 2017 charitable gift total was $4.2 million.
They know that the average gift on Giving Tuesday is $100. Let’s assume that they check with the Board and decide that they will solve 10% of their deficit (2,000 gifts) on Giving Tuesday. The effort seems worth it because they will also call attention to all of their social media. They realize that some of the gifts would have come in without Giving Tuesday but charitable donations are a very good secondary financing plan for them.
What did they get? You’ll have to check after Giving Tuesday 🙂
What if your normal gift total is $40,000 for the year on a $45 million budget?
Determine what is the best secondary financing and also do you have it already in operation? Many nonprofits only have government contracts and they desperately need to choose one more financing source. Many nonprofits do not receive much charitable funding. Don’t jump for Giving Tuesday just because everyone is doing it. It may not be your secondary source solution.
Use Giving Tuesday if its part of a larger plan for secondary source financing for your mission!