Pandemic brings rapid rise in US giving for NGOs

Several of the largest NGOs in the United States have seen substantial increases in public giving over the last two years, according to data shared with Devex.

December is traditionally the busiest period for giving in the U.S., and Devex reached out to the 10 largest NGOs listed as serving international needs on the Forbes list of the top 100 fundraising nonprofits to ask for information on the level of public support over the course of 2021.

Traditionally, Americans have given most of their money to domestic causes. The most recent report from the Philanthropy Network found that $25.9 billion out of $471.4 billion given by Americans, or 5.5% of all giving, was international.

But several NGO fundraising leaders at organizations spoken to said the year to date has seen successful growth in public giving, with others saying they had seen success since the start of the pandemic.

Some said they felt that the pandemic had been seen as a disaster situation, prompting responses from givers who would not normally support international causes. Others said the pandemic had caused Americans to focus more on their connection to the outside world, and this had created a shift in mindset.

Leaders said they had successfully adapted strategies to cope with shifts to virtual interaction, while others said they had continued to have success with traditional measures.

Several said they had changed the services they delivered, including providing more domestic services, and that they believed this had also positively influenced public support.

PATH

PATH, an international global health nonprofit whose major funders include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. government, was listed as number 90 on Forbes 2021 list of America’s top charities with $189 million in private donations and $303 million in total revenues.

Ankita Aras, PATH’s director of philanthropic operations, said that the organization has seen an increase in funding received from donors since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

As of Dec.10, PATH’s fundraising for unrestricted cash was at 104% of its 2021 goal, according to data provided to Devex. Last year, the organization reached 85% of its unrestricted cash goal. In terms of its end-of-year giving campaign, PATH is at 34% to its goal for 2021 compared to last year when it was at 28%.

Aras said that PATH established “stretch goals” earlier this year by looking at where the philanthropy team was doing well in terms of fundraising performance and seeing how it could perform against those levels.

She attributes some of the fundraising growth to public health being “top of mind” for many donors during the pandemic, an increase in donors choosing to give online, and the rising popularity of global movements such as Giving Tuesday that encourage people to give on a specific day or at a specific time of the year.

But Aras also pointed to changes that PATH had made in its fundraising strategies as helpful in boosting giving, such as taking an “always on” approach that pushes them to maintain contact with donors through digital advertising, editorial campaigns, email, and program communications.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity International is a home-building nonprofit organization. It was listed sixth on the Forbes list with $1.46 billion in private donations and $2.3 billion in total revenues.

It saw contributions increase from $199.6 million in the year to June 2020 to $259.7 million in the year to June 2021.

While it’s still too early to compare end-of-year intakes for 2021 and 2020, it’s already clear that the average gift size for major gifts is up by 10%, said Jeremy Kraut-Ordover, Habitat’s international vice president of individual giving.

“Last year was a growth year, as this one appears to be as well,” he said. “We have had growth in year-end giving for the past several years.”

Habitat attributes the growth to increased generosity among donors; more targeted direct marketing; more consistent major gift efforts; and the growing need for the work that it does.

Kraut-Ordover said there has been a “deliberate and direct marketing program” targeting existing and potential donors as part of the organization’s 2021 fundraising strategy. And for end-of-year fundraising, Habitat focused on renewals and increased asks from its existing donor base. So far, there has been an increase in all channels of donor giving, including mail, online, and through major gifts, he said.

UNICEF USA

UNICEF USA, a nonprofit organization that supports the United Nations Children’s Fund, is listed 22nd on the Forbes list with $626 million in private donations and $631 million in total revenues. UNICEF USA said it saw a 16% rise in total cash support between 2019 and 2020.

The organization ramps up its direct response program, direct mail, and digital fundraising efforts for the individual donors whose contributions make up about one-quarter of its funding, in the span between Giving Tuesday and the end of the year, said Michael J. Nyenhuis, president and CEO at UNICEF USA.

Since the start of COVID-19, UNICEF USA has invested heavily in systems that allow it to do more targeted marketing to provide prospective supporters with the content they are interested in.

UNICEF USA invests in building their brand throughout the year so that when the holiday season rolls around they are top of mind for people. It produces high-quality content about UNICEF’s work around the world, including a speaker series featuring program staff; virtual field visits that allow people to engage in real-time; and a documentary screened at its annual fundraising gala, which happened in person in New York City on Giving Tuesday.

This year, for the agency’s 75th anniversary, UNICEF USA held events in 10 cities across the U.S., which raised a record $8.9 million.

“Content is what we’re finding is key here,” Nyenhuis said. “I’ve said for a long time that in the best of all possible worlds we could take everybody to go visit one of our programs somewhere.”

But while trips are not possible for everyone, the right combination of technology and storytelling can help to deliver a similar experience, he said.

Direct Relief

Direct Relief, a nonprofit that provides disaster relief and emergency medical assistance in the U.S. and internationally, is listed fifth on the Forbes list with $1.93 billion in private donations and $1.94 billion in total revenues.

The organization told Devex it has seen an 82% increase in the number of donations made through its website since the organization began responding to the pandemic in January 2020.

Direct Relief offers individual donors the option to tailor their giving to specific issue areas, by selecting from a dropdown of programmatic gifts when they make a donation online.

But in most cases, people give unrestricted gifts, said Heather Bennett, vice president of partnerships and philanthropy at Direct Relief.

Since its founding, the organization has relied on donations of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, so it has experience working with corporations that are offering financial resources as well as in-kind support.

That trend has continued during COVID-19, and some brands, such as Starbucks, have not only donated to Direct Relief but helped to spread the word about their work to new audiences.

What most charities would call a fundraising team is actually an extension of the organization’s communications team.

“Fundraising is not front and center for us. It’s about sharing the work — that’s what we keep our focus on. It’s never about asking for money,” Bennett said.

In fact, she said, Direct Relief does not ramp up its efforts between GivingTuesday and the end of the year, as it prefers to leverage the reputation and donor base and trust it has built leading up to the holiday season rather than compete with the noise.

Save the Children

The COVID-19 pandemic has “unlocked generosity from individuals,” said Ettore Rossetti, lead of global digital and senior adviser for marketing, communications, and fundraising at Save the Children, an international humanitarian organization focused on improving the lives of children globally. Forbes ranked the organization at 31 with $483 million in private donations and $908 million in total revenues.

While it remains to be seen what will be donated before the end of the year, he said the organization always sees a steep increase in donations, which he attributes to a combination of the way Giving Tuesday has raised awareness of nonprofit causes; the tax incentives for donating to charity in the U.S.; and the fact that when people gather for the holidays and feel grateful for what they have they might also want to support others who are struggling.

While Save the Children is trying to diversify, its fundraising tends to be “hyper seasonal” between Giving Tuesday and the end of the year, Rossetti said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked Save the Children’s digital transformation, leading the organization to take its fundraising efforts completely virtual.

Similar to many of its peers in the nonprofit sector, the organization looked to online content to replace the loss of in-person visits, creating a concept called journeys that combine produced videos with virtual interactions.

And increasingly, Save the Children is shifting its mindset from channel marketing — by focusing on the ways in which the organization is reaching a broad audience — to being supporter-centric by delivering people with content that is customized to their interests.

CARE USA

CARE USA is ranked 43rd on the list with $391 million in private donations and $609 million in total revenues. The organization, which works on education, health, and eliminating hunger, has seen a 19% increase in fundraising income in 2021, according to Sarah Taylor Peace, chief revenue officer at CARE USA.

She said she had seen a growing trend in the U.S. for more support for international causes. While domestic giving appeared to be falling, international giving had been rising over the last two years.

“It’s sparked something with our supporters,” she said. “We think maybe it’s shown them how interconnected the world is. Part of that is down to the emergency nature of the work. When I worked with the Disasters Emergency Committee in the U.K., we found that disasters brought in donors who wouldn’t otherwise give.

“It’s interesting to contrast it to the U.K., where I’m based. Organizations over here are having a harder time of it.”

She said the organization had launched domestic relief campaigns for the first time, such as for the recent deadly tornadoes that swept through Kentucky.

“We wonder whether disaster appeals create giving fatigue, but we launched four emergency appeals in six weeks,” she said. “We thought donors might have fatigue by the end of the last one, but that’s not what we saw.”

She said that the holiday season was a major giving period for CARE, with Dec. 31 the busiest day.

She said the NGO had had more success with digital fundraising, including a campaign centered around Christmas care packages which go out mostly via digital.

“The same channels and approaches are working as always,” she said. “Digital is increasing. But we get donations in everything from cheques to crypto.”

Americares

Americares is a global NGO focused on health and development. It came in seventh on the list with $1.43 billion in private donations and $1.44 billion in total revenues.

It has seen a 70% increase in the number of people giving in the past two years that has led to a 30-40% increase in income in dollar terms, said Jenny Goldstein, senior vice president and chief development officer at the NGO.

“It’s just been an outpouring of support,” she said. “We get a lot of money through corporates and foundations, but 60% of the money raised comes from individuals.”

She said the challenge was to get as many new donors as possible to continue to give globally, and this would be a key challenge for the fourth quarter when Americares raises 50-60% of total revenue.

She said Americares had found that donors really respond to specifics.

“Telling people we work in 90 countries is just overwhelming. So we’ve focused on specific health workers’ stories, and how the PPE [personal protective equipment] we’ve delivered has helped at clinics. We’ve been doing a lot more storytelling.”

In light of COVID-19, the NGO has increased virtual donor experiences. “We’ve held town halls where donors can meet with program staff. And we’ve created experiences where donors can see where the money’s going and what it’s doing,” she said.

“This year at Christmas we’ve focused on how donors can see the connection. We created a campaign called ‘Made Possible by You’ and so far I’m feeling pretty confident. We’ve really been made more relevant by the pandemic, where others have struggled.”

Americares still gets the best responses through direct mail and email, she said. Despite the digital age, she said that donors still enjoyed getting traditional newsletters.