By Paul Clolery and Richard H. Levey

GivingTuesday 2024 appears to be off to a solid start, aided by the push many charities began days before the actual GivingTuesday of December 3. “Yesterday (the pre-push) was really strong for our NPOs, which was encouraging to see,” said a spokesperson for platforms GoFundMe and Classy.

The Classy platform data was showing organizations are “generally holding strong compared to last year, and we are seeing an uptick in big gifts coming online,” according to the spokesperson. “We are also monitoring a few other industry trends, such as recurring giving growth and social sharing, but it’s too soon to make any predictions there or on the other data points we are monitoring.”

At DonorsChoose in New York City, a platform through which public schoolteachers submit “wish lists” for classroom and student supplies, GivingTuesday had an early start through a promo code sent to previous donors on Monday. The platform’s donors raised $1.2 million early last year, up 60% during the same day last year, with more than 3,600 individuals participating, up from 2,015 from last year.

As of 3:00 p.m. during GivingTuesday 2024, donors had given nearly $1.8 million toward a $5 million goal. The donations total came from 12,816 donors, with 9,444 public school teachers benefitting.

The numbers will get better if Black Friday and Cyber Monday are an indication of consumer sentiment. Granted, consumer spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is not a perfect indicator of how GivingTuesday might fare. There are several factors that spur consumer holiday shopping, such as deep discounts or anticipated price hikes in 2025. But what these two shopping-focused days can reveal is the amount of money sloshing around the financial ecosystem. Early indicators are funds are reaching lofty levels.

Black Friday 2024 sales reached $10.8 billion, up 10.2% from $9.8 billion in 2023, according to Adobe Analytics. Cyber Monday 2024 sales reached $13.3 billion, a 10.7% gain from the $12.4 billion the corresponding day saw in 2023.

While these gains might augur good news for available cash in consumers’ pockets, there is no way of knowing whether these early shopping levels are reflecting overall boosts in spending or are merely cannibalizing spending that would have happened later in the month. One indication the latter theory might reflect the truth is the rise in “buy now, pay later” shopping. According to Adobe Analytics, this strategy is anticipated as reaching a new single-day peak of $993 million.

Initial results from GivingTuesday are coming online, although at 2 p.m. Eastern any number of factors — the three-hour lag of potential funders in the Pacific states, the after-work tendencies of funders to log on and donate from home — make drawing conclusions about the strength of the day difficult.

That said, 2023 results have long been codified, and they offer at least a full-day yardstick by which rising donation levels in 2024 might be compared. For instance, in 2023 GlobalGiving, an online platform that connects donors, companies and nonprofits worldwide, generated a tick less than $3.7 million via 15,500 donations. As of 3:00 pm Eastern on GivingTuesday 2024, the platform had reported more than $2.4 million raised through 9.368 donations. The top 10 causes can be found on GlobalGiving’s leaderboard (https://www.globalgiving.org/leaderboards/givingtuesday-2024/)

“It’s just past the halfway point of Giving Tuesday at GlobalGiving, and we’re excited to share that we’ve already surpassed $2 million in donations!” Victoria Vrana, CEO of Washington, DC-based fundraising platform GlobalGiving told The NonProfit Times. “The momentum from our global community of donors and partners is truly remarkable. Time and again, we’re reminded of the power of generosity to fuel change, and today is no exception. This day of collective action is driving meaningful impact for nonprofits worldwide, and we’re deeply grateful to everyone who has joined us so far.”

During 2023, every cause among the top 10 on the GlobalGiving leaderboard reported some of its funding came from matching programs. Matching funds made up between one-fifth and one-third of each cause’s total amount. As of mid-day 2024, the percentage of donations coming via matching funds is higher, but this will likely diminish as potential donors return home in the evening and make personal donations that are not matched.

The Classy platform from GoFundMe, results from just before 3:00 p.m. eastern showed nearly $22.2 million in donations from just fewer than 155,000 donors and an average gift size of $143.

In 2023, the full-day GivingTuesday take via Classy was roughly $49.4 million raised from 340,868 donations to more than 3,500 organizations. The average gift size was just less than $145. Those gifts were made by 301,168 donors, meaning each donor made, on average, 1.13 donations.

As of 2 p.m. Eastern, the giving totals at the Combined Federal Campaign reached $1,881,893. “As of noon, the total was $1,017,686, so that is an amazing increase of $864,207 in just two hours,” said Danielle Byrd, program manager – CFC national marketing. That jump reflects fundraising bumps traditionally seen during lunchtime hours.

The adage it costs money to make money is really true this year for online giving. According to Adva Priso, digital chief strategy officer at Moore, “One thing we are seeing is that Google ad costs are sky high today — up 40% from last year, which was already 300% higher than 2022. #TravelTuesday promotions from the travel industry could be a factor.”

The team at GivingTuesday is optimistic but keeping their collective powder dry. “We’re hearing various encouraging things but not enough data points to suggest any trend yet, though, said Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer at GivingTuesday.

The post GivingTuesday Seems To Have Started Strong appeared first on The NonProfit Times.

Source From Non Profit Times