When the United Way of Rhode Island planned its inaugural 401Gives Day for April 1, the world had not yet heard of COVID-19, and the chief concerns for many local nonprofits revolved around serious but perennial fundraising and staffing challenges.
Now in the midst of a global pandemic that has brought the state economy to its knees, with tens of thousands of layoffs, the need for funding help is as tied to the survival of thousands of local nonprofits as it’s ever been.
The nonprofit funder’s 401Gives Day will offer individuals across the state the opportunity to donate to approximately 375 nonprofits identified on the event’s website, 401Gives.org. The daylong event is designed
to publicly highlight each nonprofit’s needs, to help the organizations provide necessary services and recognize the unsung work they do on a regular basis.
“This is also about coming together and talking about the great work in the sector, and we’re utilizing this as a forum to be able to do that. It helps heighten the awareness,” United Way of Rhode Island CEO and President Cortney Nicolato said.
She’s aware the timing of the event is particularly challenging, with so many businesses, workers and now former employees focused on their own survival.
The United Way has reached out to its technology vendor to see if it will be possible to extend the one-day event. But right now, it will go on largely as planned, with a $1 million fundraising goal.
Nicolato said more nonprofits have signed up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic because they had to either postpone or cancel fundraising events. 401Gives Day will give organizations a needed alternative to receive funds, she said.
“We’ve had some nonprofits call us within the last couple of days [to see] if they could still sign up [for 401Gives Day],” Nicolato said. “They were looking at this as an opportunity to fundraise.”
Nicolato said in times of crisis, the nonprofit community “rises even more” to help vulnerable individuals who need assistance the most. Because of that, it is important that those who can do give on April 1 to help those organizations meet the growing community needs.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island is among the many organizations hoping for a financial boost.
It had to reschedule several potential fundraising events because of the virus pandemic and its fundraising calendar was “destroyed,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters Director of Development and Community Relations George Evans Marley. However, the organization, seeking to raise a minimum $20,000 on April 1, sees reason for hope in 401Gives Day, Marley said.
‘We’re hoping now that we can raise enough money … [to] continue our operations uninterrupted.’
GEORGE EVANS MARLEY, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island director of development and community relations
“We had to make a lot of changes really quickly,” Marley said. “We’re hoping now that we can raise enough money so that we can continue our operations uninterrupted.”
United Way has two programs, the Nonprofit Innovation Lab and the Executive Director Learning Circle, that offer guidance for nonprofits and their leaders in how to make the organizations sustainable. 401Gives Day, Nicolato says, broadens the support for nonprofits, particularly smaller organizations, by giving them online fundraising assistance that they wouldn’t normally have.
Nicolato said her experience working in Texas is what spawned the idea of bringing this new initiative to the Ocean State. Nicolato worked for 13 years in Dallas, and in 2009 the Communities Foundation of Texas created the North Texas Gives Day to assist nonprofits and highlight their work.
Nicolato said the inaugural North Texas Gives Day raised $4 million, and the public’s support for local organizations has grown exponentially since then. In September 2019, the event brought in more than $50 million to help close to 3,000 nonprofits in the north Texas area, according to the event’s website. In total, $290 million has been donated to nonprofits in the 11-year history of North Texas Gives Day, the website said.
Illinois has a similar event, called #ILGIVES, and it raised close to $2.3 million for nonprofits in that state on Dec. 3, according to the #ILGIVES website.
“That’s what we’re trying to build [here in Rhode Island],” Nicolato said. “We’re trying to build a momentum and really amplify the important work of the community.” Nicolato also hopes the inaugural 401Gives Day will meet the fundraising goal through mostly individual donors to help the approximately 375 nonprofit organizations and schools noted on the 401Gives website.
United Way Executive Vice President and Director of Strategic Marketing Sandi Connors says the organization reached out to the nonprofits through various means, including emails, informational events and open houses to participate in 401Gives Day. Listed nonprofits on 401Gives.org elected on their own to be part of the day, Connors said.
Individuals can search for organizations on the site they wish to contribute to, and Nicolato says the Rhode Island Foundation will match the first $50,000 worth of gifts contributed to 401Gives Day. Additionally, various companies will offer nonprofits additional dollar prizes each hour on April 1 to help their causes.
“If you want to give $10 on this day, give it. Every dollar matters. These types of days offer that as an opportunity to give any support,” Nicolato said.
Additionally, both the United Way and the Rhode Island Foundation have established the Rhode Island COVID-19 Response Fund to help nonprofits with direct-service programs that have been impacted by the virus. As of March 20, the fund had raised more than $4 million, and nonprofits are now able to apply for grants through the fund.
“We know that Rhode Islanders want to help their neighbors – in a state as small as ours, we are all interconnected,” Nicolato said. “But knowing where or how to help isn’t always easy. 401Gives puts the opportunity to help right at our fingertips.
“It’s more than a day, it’s a movement,” she said.
James Bessette is special projects editor at PBN. Contact him at Bessette@PBN.com.
