The Giving USA 2009 Report on Philanthropy tells us that giving is down for the first time in more than a decade (and for only the second time since 1956) and that 82% of giving comes from individuals.  Bummer or opportunity?   At GlobalGiving we see opportunity. If we can help individual project leaders learn how to use new tools and how to fundraise from a larger pool of individuals then sustained growth is possible.  (Teaching people how to fish and all of that.)

This summer GlobalGiving held our first American Open Challenge targeted to give training and tools to US grass roots projects.  The hope was that we could help small non profits raise funds that they had not counted on, attract donors they did not know and survive another year.  Did it work?

From a macro view-it certainly was successful. 73 new organizations to GlobalGIving raised $331,000 in 3 weeks.  Terrific but was this a one hit wonder or was there learning, adoption and motivation for sustained changes in fundraising and donor expansion?

We have been digging deeper to understand how our new partners view the experience. Following is what we heard about their fishing expeditions.

• They developed intense 3 week plans to communicate, coerce and convince their friends, relatives, acquaintances and donors to spread the word and take action.
• They used all media available to them (GlobalGiving showed them how)Face book, Twitter, Linked In, email–although there was labor time the out of pocket costs were insignificant. And they did not worry too much about burn out–they keep the messages and touch point flowing.
• The ask was simple–give if you canand if not—–tell your friends and colleagues–building the extended network is critical.
• They reached out to local media outlets using GlobalGiving tools and found that the press will report on the little guys who are making a difference.
• They were clear about what was at stake and the urgency of the request.

So, will the fishing continue? The answer has been a resounding,’ YES’!  The projects we have interviewed tell us that between 70 and 90% of the donors were new to their organization.  Whole new groups of donors to explore and engage for the future. To that end GlobalGiving is constructing a fourth quarter promotion to help our current partners maximize giving from current donors and to attract new donors and fans.

GlobalGIving will also run our second American Open in October of this year to support more new fishermen/women.  We hope to help many more project leaders enjoy the feast!

https://www.globalgiving.com/contactus/project2.html

GlobalGIving’s work spans the world and that world includes “our own backyard”. Yesterday half of the staff at GlobalGiving ‘world headquarters’ headed out to serve dinner at the Central Union Mission here in Washington DC. 

The world came to our doorstep as we served men from Central America, Asia, Africa, Germany and of course DC.  The work at the mission is a stellar example of a project that solves the problems of homelessness, job training and support in a practical, hands on way.   Just the type of work and creative solutions that GlobalGiving thrives on. 

Huge shout out to Ray for accommodating our gang and for taking us under his wing in service of others.  His efficiency and caring were great models.

Dr Elizabeth Dunn at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and colleagues found that [experimental subjects] report significantly greater happiness if they spend money “pro-socially” – that is on gifts for others or on charitable donations – rather than spending on themselves. So…. the media has been reporting the last few weeks. At GlobalGiving we wanted to know what makes our donors happy so we asked a few of them.
Our donors confided that they too, feel better about themselves and the lives they lead each time they give to a project on GlobalGiving. The special happiness that GlobalGiving delivered had to do with the personal connection donors felt with the projects. They found the project, they figured out what impact their donation would have, they were able to take action immediately–all ways that made them feel like they had actually ‘done’ something at the end of the day. Though their giving budgets may be finite, finding a way to stretch the budget (skipping lattes, eating less, one less pair of shoes) and reallocating the dollars to a project that spikes their passion was reported as a great way to feel terrific. Now, that is cheap therapy!
While we can’t guarentee happiness we can listen to what our donors(and the scientisits) tell us and try to improve the happiness quotient in this world.