PROVIDENCE – For the seventh straight year, 401Gives Day will try to raise significant money for hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the Ocean State when it begins at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
The annual 36-hour statewide online fundraising initiative, operated by the United Way of Rhode Island Inc
.’s Alliance for Nonprofit Impact, will run until 6 p.m. April 1. Since its launch in 2020, It has become Rhode Island’s largest statewide philanthropic initiatives that support local nonprofits.
Last year, $4.88 million was raised for 644 nonprofits, exceeding the previous record set in 2024 by more than $1 million. The goal this year is $5 million.
Currently, nonprofits are pushed to their limits by increasing community needs and diminishing resources, major fundraisers like 401Gives are more crucial than ever, said Nancy Wolanski, director of the Alliance for Nonprofit Impact at United Way Rhode Island.
"Right now nonprofits are being stressed in ways they never have been before, even more so than the pandemic," Wolanski said.
According to the Rhode Island Nonprofit Survey, 88% of safety net and basic need organizations saw an increase in demand between 2024 and 2025, with top issues including affordable housing, food insecurity and health care.
Wolanski said that the federal funding cuts and terminations mean that organizations often find themselves competing with each other for funding. In 2025, 49% of federal grantees in the state lost some or all of their funding.
The added pressure has caused nonprofits to hemorrhage another vital resource in addition to funding - people. Caitlynn Douglas, director of 401Gives, said that employee turnover in nonprofits is higher than ever.
"The stress is causing staff to leave the sector entirely," she said, which in many cases can be crippling. "Small organizations are hit harder by even one or two people leaving."
Of the Rhode Island nonprofits surveyed, 77% reported that some or all of their staff were burned out, with another 49% saying that their staff was contemplating leaving the sector.
"This year and last year combined were different," Douglas said. "People saw that these organizations make their communities function. Even if they're not supported by a nonprofit, they have a loved one who is. It was rooted in this mentality that 'everything is on fire and I don't know what to do but here's one thing I can do'."
Those looking to contribute to organizations can donate on
401Gives Day’s website. This year now has 707 organizations participating since registration opened last November.
"Registration outpacing over the year is really exciting to see," Douglas said. "It means that 401Gives is on people's minds and groups are strategizing and planning."
Douglas attributes this to lessons learned from last year's success.
"Organizations have been more candid, saying 'we were in a tight spot last year, but your contributions helped us,' and donors respond to that."
While the success is welcome, both Wolanski and Douglas hope to see this spirit not limited to just one day.
"We would like 401Gives to not just be a once-a-year blip but to a be starting point rather than a finish line," Wolanksi said. "We would like to see these donors become recurring donors. Rhode Island has a long way to go, we're always ranked at the bottom of the 50 states for individual giving."
Even if financial donations are not feasible, Douglas says there are a myriad ways for members of the public to contribute. "401Gives is just a checkpoint in a larger game," she said. "There's volunteering, there's advocating, there's joining a board - it can split into so many more things beyond monetary. If you can't give, you can volunteer, show up, spread the word."
Veer Mudambi is the special projects editor of the Providence Business News. He can be reached at mudambi@pbn.com.
