MIAMI – (Sept. 30, 2014) – A new report offers 10 key insights for community foundations organizing Giving Days, the popular online campaigns that have raised tens of millions for local causes.

Published by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the report reviewed campaigns by 17 community foundations big and small. The results will help organizers determine whether to run a Giving Day, how to run one effectively and how to make it more financially sustainable for their organization.

“Community foundations are increasingly, and impressively, using new online tools to reach new donors and raise substantial funds for local causes through their campaigns. At Knight Foundation, we wanted to look not only at what’s making these Giving Days work, but how they can become sustainable and best serve both the community foundation and larger community,” said Bahia Ramos, director, community foundations at Knight Foundation.

The report, “How Giving Days Can Work for Your Community Foundation: 10 Lessons From the Knight Foundation Giving Day Initiative,” is available at givingdayplaybook.org/10lessons and was prepared by the philanthropic advisory firm Third Plateau.

Community Foundation Giving Day organizers can also join the conversation and receive insights from their peers by joining the Giving Day Exchange group on Facebook.

The new report offers tips on a range of issues, including:

• Prize Design: While community foundations offered fun and often quirky milestone prizes – such as giving a prize for the 1,950th donation to commemorate the foundation’s founding in 1950 – those didn’t drive more donations. The most effective prizes were those that focused on specific donor behaviors, such as a monetary reward to the nonprofit that raised the most donations during a specific hour.

• Engaging Donors: Giving Days are geared towards democratizing philanthropy and reaching new donors. However, 11 community foundations also – successfully – engaged their board members and donor-advised fund holders. These foundations found ways to activate board members and enable the fund holders to make contributions that counted toward Giving Day totals as well as prize and match opportunities – raising more funds from and enthusiasm with current donors.

• Sustainability: While the focus of most Giving Days is on raising money for local nonprofits, Giving Days can be structured to financially benefit community foundations. For example, seven community foundations surveyed increased their funds under management, raising money for endowment funds held by the community foundations, donor-advised funds, and the community foundations’ general programs and operations. Others strategies for increasing Giving Day sustainability include charging nonprofits fees to participate and discontinuing donation fee subsidies.

Started as a way to help community foundations use new tools to reach donors, the Knight Foundation Giving Day Initiative both supports campaigns in the communities where the foundation invests and provides research and information to the broader field. The foundation’s Giving Day Playbook, published in 2013 and updated this month, is the first comprehensive guide for launching a successful 24-hour online giving campaign.

The Giving Days supported by Knight Foundation raised $31.8 million for local causes over the past year from close to 80,000 donors and benefiting more than 3,000 organizations.

There are a few ways for community foundations to learn more:

·      Download the report at GivingDayPlaybook.org/10lessons

·      Join the conversation on Facebook Group “Giving Day Exchange.” Exclusively for community foundations, the group enables organizers to swap advice and obtain  resources from peers. Members should list their place of work in their Facebook profile.

·       Attend a deep dive session at the Council on Foundation’s fall conference. The three-hour session will allow participants to go in-depth on a range of Giving Day issues.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

Contacts:

Anusha Alikhan, Communications Director, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677, [email protected]