Unable to hold in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 401Gives Day, a fundraising initiative created by the United Way of Rhode Island, took on much greater importance for Animal Rescue Rhode Island.
Elizabeth Skrobisch, Animal Rescue Rhode Island executive director, said 401Gives Day was one of many crucial lifelines that were strung together to help the shelter continue operating uninterrupted.
“[We were] impacted substantially by COVID-19 and [continue] to feel those effects,” Skrobisch said. “We have been compelled to cancel or postpone fundraising events that typically cover 20-25% of our yearly expenses. Participating in 401Gives Day gave ARRI the opportunity to replace some of its usual funding sources.”
The South Kingstown-based animal shelter that provides humane welfare to local animals and promotes animal adoptions became the beneficiary of $11,000 in donations from 118 donors during 401Gives Day. Skrobisch said the funds turned out to be very impactful for the organization and were immediately applied to its programming.
Animal Rescue Rhode Island is not the only nonprofit to be substantially aided from 401Gives Day. The statewide day of giving held each year on April 1 raised in 2021 a whopping $2.3 million for 422 nonprofit organizations from more than 12,000 donors during the 24-hour, online fundraising campaign.
In its inaugural year in 2020, 401Gives Day raised $1.3 million for 366 nonprofits, greatly boosting the nonprofits’ ability to still support a needy community and also remain operational.
“It has really taken on a life of its own, and I think that’s indicative of its importance and how it’s been embraced by our state’s nonprofit community,” United Way CEO and President Cortney Nicolato said. “Rhode Island nonprofits not only provide essential services, they’re integral to our state’s workforce. But to do this work and fulfill their missions, nonprofits need resources and the support of our community.”
‘To do this work and fulfill their missions, nonprofits need resources.’
CORTNEY NICOLATO, United Way of Rhode Island CEO and president
The event was initially created to generally give support to the nonprofit community that regularly helps those in need. But, it took on a more significant importance right as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020.
David Caprio, CEO and president of Providence-based Children’s Friend – an organization that improves the well-being and healthy development of young, vulnerable children – said the nonprofit immediately signed on to be part of 401Gives Day. He also said the timing could not have been better given the pandemic’s onset when everything went from in-person to digital.
Caprio said that while early in the pandemic, Children’s Friend used funds raised through 401Gives to purchase and deliver meals to families in immediate need. The $54,000 that Children’s Friend received from this year’s 401Gives Day, he said, will help the organization fill in the gaps where federal or state funding ends, including providing emergency support to its families, with rent and utilities, medical expenses, food, diapers and clothing.
“As the financial impacts of the pandemic began to be felt by the agency – canceled in-person services and reduced fee-for-service billing – the families we serve were also struggling, most immediately with the lack of food,” Caprio said. “While the agency worked to stabilize itself and create plans to serve kids and families in these challenging times, the 401Gives Day donations provided immediate funding allowing Children’s Friend to meet the immediate needs of the families we serve.”
In Newport, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center raised more than $77,000 this year on 401Gives Day from 187 donors. MLK Center Executive Director Heather Hole Strout said the MLK Center, due to the pandemic, saw more people turn to the organization for assistance than ever before.
Strout said some of the money raised from April 1 provided scholarships for families in the center’s Preschool, Summer Camp, and Afterschool program directly benefitting working parents who don’t earn enough to make ends meet or qualify for Department of Human Services subsidies but need quality child care so that they can go to work. In addition, Strout said money was used to support the center’s Hunger Services programs.
“401Gives gave us a boost during a time of crisis for so many and we are so grateful to all of the generous people who supported us,” Strout said.
