FOUR YEARS AFTER United Way of Rhode Island Inc. launched a special online fundraising day to support local nonprofits, local organizations are now in line for a new cyber platform that will allow for donations to be sought year-round.
Historically, Rhode Island ranks at or near the bottom of states for individual charitable giving. Plus, many nonprofits are too small to host their own websites, let alone manage online giving.
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United Way’s Alliance for Nonprofit Impact is spearheading efforts to change that by building on the annual one-day 401Gives Day fundraising drive for nonprofits that launched in 2020 – held every April 1 – to add Give4GoodRI, an online platform to enable perpetual giving that launched Oct. 23.
“If you can’t accept online giving, you’re missing out on a lot because most people do everything online,” said Nancy Wolanski, the alliance’s director.
Alliance Engagement Manager Caitlynn Douglas, who headed 401Gives about a year before moving into her role with the alliance last November, has been developing and refining the process being used to shape and share profiles for nonprofits registering for Give4GoodRI, which uses the same software as 401Gives.
“Give4Good was given to me as soon as I took the position,” Douglas said. “It was one of the things that they had thought of and took interest in.”
The alliance, which was launched in January under United Way’s umbrella, underwrote Give4GoodRI with funding support from the Papitto Opportunity Connection and is seeking a corporate or foundation sponsor to cover ongoing costs to host nonprofits for free on the platform. The alliance’s revenue will be a mix of philanthropic funding, service-contract fees and member dues charged on a sliding scale beginning in 2025, Wolanski said.
The new online giving platform should complement, and not compete with, 401Gives Day, which six months ago raised the bar once again for nonprofit financial support in the Ocean State.
This past April 1, 16,557 individuals made 24,321 gifts totaling around $3.8 million during 401Gives Day, benefiting 597 different organizations. Among the supported nonprofits was IN-SIGHT, a Warwick-based nonprofit annually serving more than 1,000 children and adults who are visually impaired.
“Most of our services are free, thanks to donor funding,” IN-SIGHT Director of Development Jennifer Remmes said.
Remmes estimates about 10%, or approximately $100,000, of IN-SIGHT’s annual budget comes from individuals’ charitable giving. This year, almost 20% of the nonprofit’s giving budget – about $18,000 – came through online donations made during 401Gives Day, Remmes said.
Remmes served as the first 401Gives Day director when it launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and lead it for the next four years before leaving United Way for IN-SIGHT.
“It’s really great because we got a lot of new donors as well, which is really important in the giving world,” Remmes said.
The alliance expects Give4GoodRI, a one-stop-shop repository of information for all things nonprofit in Rhode Island, will help attract and retain donors and volunteers while providing a more consistent means for people to donate.
Douglas has been working with 13 nonprofits, including IN-SIGHT, to test the process for organizations to complete their informational profiles hosted through Give4GoodRI to help the public better understand what they are about before deciding whether and how much to donate. As of publication, seven of those profiles have been approved, with the rest awaiting pieces of information to fill gaps.
A couple weeks from now, the alliance looks to have another first at the nonprofit support branch: launching a nonprofit appreciation month.
Wolanski says the alliance will use November to thank nonprofits by offering pop-up wellness and other events throughout Rhode Island to focus on investing in their employees, who are weary and worn from fall fundraising and about to rally for year-end campaigns throughout December.
Nonprofits can register for 401Gives 2025 starting Nov. 1. For nonprofits with a national presence, year-end giving typically kicks off the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
