What Does the Donor Say?

By Dana Rinderknecht, Director of Online Giving, Community First Foundation

For several years now, I have been telling people the stories of what we hear from donors. But honestly, it is anecdotal only. We all know that I am not going to hear stories from all of our donors – as much as I would welcome that.

We decided to find out what our donors thought of our messaging and, more importantly, why they donated on Colorado Gives Day. Segmenting out donors who gave to ten or more nonprofits last year on Colorado Gives Day, we sent them ten questions to better understand their experience with the day.

For me, the best question was, “If you plan to give again on Colorado Gives Day this year, do you expect to donate to different nonprofits?” The answers validated for me why I truly love this program and what I do every day.

From those who responded, we heard that 39% expect to give to different nonprofits this year. The reasons included the fact that we keep adding more nonprofits each year, because it is fun, because it is my duty, and because I have more to give.

But some of the answers surprised me. One person said that “one of the pleasant aspects of Colorado Gives Day this year was challenging friends to give to my favorite and then 'trading' donations with theirs.”

What a great idea! This is a great way to learn about new nonprofits and expand your giving. It is also fun to hear the stories of why your friends are excited about these groups.

Another comment that caught my eye was a grandmother who talked about giving to her favorites the rest of the year and spending Colorado Gives Day teaching her grandson about philanthropy. It is his Christmas present from her. They “search out worthy and interesting organizations that fuel his passion.” I too did this with my nephew and it was fun to talk through why he was excited about a particular group and what he thinks about donating.

Whatever the reason you give on Colorado Gives Day, I am thankful that you do. It is honestly one of my favorite days of the year. It is exciting to watch the dollars, but for me it is even more fun to hear the stories – why people gave and how the nonprofits benefited from these donations. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, December 9!

Comments

Blog 1: Tips on How to Read Form 990

By Angela Bevacqua, Senior Communications Specialist Have you ever been advised to look at a nonprofit’s Form 990 before making a donation? Then you look at it and wonder how to make sense of it all? If you aren’t an accountant or nonprofit administrator, you may avoid the daunting task. On our online giving website ColoradoGives.org, we require nonprofits to provide several documents, including the Form 990 as appropriate, to encourage transparency about their programs and finances. We don’t evaluate nonprofits on the website; we require nonprofits to share information to help donors make informed decisions about giving. I asked Community First Foundation’s finance department to help us interpret this useful document. We will do this in two blogs: Blog 1 shares the basics of Form 990 and Blog 2 delves deeper. Q: What exactly is the Form 990? Form 990, called the Return of Organizations Exempt From Income Tax, must be filed with the IRS each year by charitable organiza...

Colorado Gives Day: Reflections from Nonprofits

By Angela Bevacqua, Communications Specialist Two months later and we’re still learning from Colorado Gives Day 2010. As we pour through data and listen to the experiences of our nonprofit friends and donors, we gain new insights about fundraising and philanthropy in Colorado. At a recent gathering of our Nonprofit Advisory Committee—a varied group of GivingFirst nonprofits that help us improve the program—we heard these reflections about The Day: Dan Hanley, director of development for Boulder County AIDS Project , said that 45% of their donations on Dec. 8 were from new donors. The agency raised more than $20,000 from 178 donations after a whirlwind of events. Dan said there are limitless ways in which you can promote your agency for Colorado Gives Day. They began soliciting support in the late-night hours of Dec. 7 at a bar in Denver, then moved on to the Denver Diner in the a.m., then several coffee shops in Boulder, and ended with a standing-room-only conc...

Meeting Space Celebrity Sighting: Natalie Portman

Valerie Brown, Meeting Space Administrator I met Natalie Portman in the Community First Foundation Meeting Space yesterday. Natalie Portman (L) and Valerie Brown in the Foundation's free Meeting Space Okay, not the Natalie Portman of Star Wars , V for Vendetta and Black Swan . This Natalie Portman is a top-notch meeting facilitator who was working with a group advancing Mental Health First Aid in Jefferson County. Led by Jefferson Center for Mental Health, the group met in our largest meeting room to discuss training community members on how to identify persons who may benefit from mental health resources. Jefferson Center for Mental Health is one of the dizzying array of nonprofits to have come through our doors since we opened the Meeting Space a year ago! February 2016 saw one meeting lasting four hours with six people. February 2017 saw 37 meetings for a total of 250 hours with 799 people through the door! In fact, in the first year we have hosted 269 mee...

ColoradoGives.org

Search This Blog