Give Local York raised more money from more donors than last year.

What does that mean for the rest of us during COVID-19?

Friday, York County had their online giving day Give Local York -- and WOW!  What a success it was!  I watched the numbers throughout the day to see if their results could tell us anything about what we can expect for the rest of the year.  And especially, what we could anticipate in terms of other online giving days, such as Giving Tuesday or Extra Give.  

Last year, they raised $3.2M from 8,547 donors for more than 300 nonprofits.  This year, 11,101 donors gave more than $3.5M to 305 nonprofits.  

That's 2,554 more donors who decided to give this year, in spite of the COVID-19 crisis and in the face of extreme economic uncertainty.

Can you believe it!?

In addition to more donors participating, there was one other shift in behavior I need to point out. --That is that while more donors gave, they were giving smaller amounts.  Sure, there were still donors who were giving $500, $1,000 or more, but over all, more gifts were smaller. In fact, this year 8,547 donors made $2,183,350 in contributions, more than $1M less than last year from the same number donors.*

What this means for you:

• It's ok to ask your donors to give.  Donors understand the value of the nonprofit sector.  York's results indicate that they are embracing their responsibility to help their neighbors by supporting your missions.

• Don't let your foot off the gas in terms of audience engagement.  I think we can expect more donors to give lots of small gifts for a while to come.  That means you need to meet more people, and get them connected to your organization, if you hope to meet your fundraising goals for the year.

• But keep cultivating those major gifts.  I was following ten organizations throughout the day on Friday and while 90% of them met or exceeded their goals, the ones that had the easiest time of it had a small handful of larger gifts in their pool.

More than anything else, Give Local York was a day of victory.  It was thrilling to watch an entire community show up and step up, becoming an example to the rest of us for what solidarity in generosity and hope can do for a community.

Thank you, York County, and the hardworking people behind Give Local York, for showing the rest of us how it can be done.

Cheers,
Dani

*I got this number from watching the score board, which was changing rapidly.  So, please consider this a 'back of the envelope' calculation.