December 21, 2021 | Caitlin O’R. B. Carter (she/her/hers) & Maren G. Rosenbach, MSL (she/her/hers) | Co-founders

We’re more than half way through giving season, but the three biggest giving days of the year still lie ahead, December 29-31. According to Double the Donation, December 31 is the busiest giving day of the year bringing in nearly 10% of the year’s donations. Individual donors are crucial particularly for small, new, and grassroots nonprofits. Nonprofits are able to develop stronger relationships with individual donors, of whom data shows, provide more multiyear, unrestricted gifts.

Charitable non-profits are organized and operated for a collective public benefit. Their missions work to solve some of the world’s most fundamental problems; their funding comes largely from philanthropic investors that do not directly benefit from the services. This results in multi-faceted motivations for donation. Traditionally, that motivation has relied on reputation. In contrast, for-profit organizations generate profit for its owners, attracting capital through innovation and a future return on investment.

Smaller or newer organizations face their own barriers as they attempt to raise the funds necessary to begin to fulfill their mission. Often these organizations take on the burden of addressing systemic barriers, but to do so, must overcome a second set of barriers and more constraining financial rules for nonprofits. Charitable organizations rooted in racial and social change often don’t have the training and resources and must pay outside sources or firms to provide this work, ultimately constraining their ability to do good. In other words, charitable nonprofits must overcome institutionalized obstacles before they can fulfill their mission.

Due to financial regulations, a nonprofit’s idea is not something that can be sold and used for-profit. That idea and its impact is the product. Overhead is initially crowdfunded by founders from the generosity of friends and family. Large foundations and grant requirements demand specific metrics that most non-profits do not have the resources to obtain on shoestring budgets. Likewise, large foundations do not allow unsolicited inquiries, reinforcing nonprofits to largely rely on individual donors.

In a nutshell, small, new, and grassroots nonprofits need your support. Now is the time to re-conceptualize your giving and help these nonprofits meet their year-end goals. As an individual donor, if you haven’t given here are three tips to frame your end of year giving.

1.     Center the mission

It’s not a surprise that larger, more established non-profits raise the most funds during giving season. They have more visibility and a proven outcome. But what about smaller non-profits? Grassroots movements? New start-ups? Giving to larger, well-established organizations centers reputation. This season, let’s re-center mission-based giving. 

2.     Make a recommendation

According to Changing Our World, “40% of Gen Zers and Millennials need to do a lot of research into a nonprofit/charity before they feel comfortable donating money”. According to Donorbox, 40% of donors give to organizations recommended by a family member or friend. That means your research and recommendations matter! If you’ve found a mission you support, share those organizations with family, friends, and social media channels.

3.     Give to education

While giving was up in 2020, giving to education was down (CASE). 2019 was a record-giving year, yet individual and alumni giving were down nearly 8% (Ruffalo Noel Levitz). Not to mention, we’ve seen deplorable methods of giving as recently as this month as 10 South Dakota teachers scrambled for $1 bills during a hockey game to get their share of $5,000 to be used for classroom supplies. 

In conclusion, individual donors are crucial to the long-term success of nonprofits by removing restrictions on giving imposed by larger foundations. Individual giving helps increase awareness of the nonprofit, creates stronger relationships, and deeper community involvement.