Many people make their philanthropic donations around the holidays because it’s the season of giving and for tax purposes. But for nonprofits that try to offer help 365 days a year, that trend makes the summer months a little tough.
“Folks aren’t really as focused on the needs of the community as they are from September to January when people are in the giving season,” said Rosie Connors, director of development and communications for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. “We try to place a lot of emphasis on the fact that hunger is a 365-day-a-year issue.”
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But since most nonprofits realize that the bulk of their donations won’t roll in until the weather turns cooler, they budget their time – and their finances – accordingly, said Rick Schwartz, vice president of communications for the Rhode Island Foundation.
“It’s sort of like squirrels putting away nuts for the winter,” he said.
The United Way of Rhode Island uses the summer months, when donations slow, to prepare for its fall campaign, said Hank Sennott, vice president and director of public relations at the United Way.
“It’s preparing for the challenge ahead,” Sennott said of the work the United Way does over the summer. Sennott said the bulk of the nonprofit’s donations come in between September and January, so the United Way budgets spending accordingly.
When a nonprofit deals in perishable items, though, places like the food bank have to work harder to maintain awareness and donations for a growing problem.
“This year alone we’ve seen a 13 percent increase in the number of children we’ve been feeding since October,” said Connors. “And we expect it to be even higher in the summer.”
The food bank feeds more children in the summer because those children are unable to take advantage of school breakfast and lunch programs as they are during the academic year, Connors said.
The food bank, which serves 50,000 Rhode Islanders a month, sees just 6 percent of its revenue from June to September. From October to December, more than 60 percent of financial donations are received, Connors said.
“Psychologically, people are thinking of the hungry during the cold, dark and stormy months,” Connors said. “People can relate more during those months.”
But that doesn’t mean that when Rhode Islanders hear about a nonprofit seeking donations during the warmer months they simply ignore the plea, Connors added.
“Last year we did a summer food drive and the governor called on all Rhode Islanders to fill the community food bank,” Connors said. The drive was a success and the food bank intends to initiate a similar project this summer.
“When people hear of the need, they react and donate,” Connors said.
Crossroads Rhode Island, which provides homeless services, also sees the bulk of its charitable donations arrive at the end of the year.
“A sense of giving for the holiday and tax benefits both play into that,” said Lisa Roth Blackman, director of development at Crossroads.
Roth Blackman said the challenge for Crossroads and other nonprofits remains keeping awareness up throughout the year.
“People sleeping in their cars even in July is a bad thing,” Roth Blackman said. “That’s something we need to address as a society.”
Like other nonprofits that see their biggest returns in the final quarter of the year, Roth Blackman said Crossroads budgets accordingly.
“We don’t plan to receive our biggest returns in July and August,” she said. The organization also plans an appeal for June.
“We’ve been more aggressive in asking people to give,” Roth Blackman said.
The United Way also benefits from donations in the form of automatic payroll deductions, Sennott said.
“The United Way is the only nonprofit that has the opportunity to go in and speak directly to employees about donating,” Sennott said. “Our ability to fund-raise is really enhanced by the fact that employers allow their workers to make a payroll deduction – and those are donations that occur throughout the year.”
