Earlier this month, I expressed my concerns about #GivingTuesday. Now, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Case Foundation have announced the results.
Guess what? Despite all the hype and self-congratulatory headlines, #GivingTuesday did not accomplish much.
The official #GivingTuesday website proudly displays this message:
However, are the good, well-intentioned folks at #GivingTuesday correct? Did the occasion really make a “huge difference”?
#GivingTuesday 2014 inspired $45.68 million in charitable giving, according to an infographic prepared by the Case Foundation. The final tabulation is expected to be even greater. Over 15,000 charities participated, representing 68 countries.
The numbers look great at first glance particularly when recognizing that donations grew by more than 63 percent over #GivingTuesday 2013.
But, let’s look at the numbers a bit more closely.
Last year, total philanthropic giving to the nonprofit sector in the USA totaled $335.17 billion. For our discussion here:
- Let’s assume that total giving in 2014 increases by four percent to $348.58 billion.
- Let’s assume that the initial reports that were shared were only half of the actual results. This would mean that donations on #GivingTuesday totaled $91.36 million, likely an overly generous estimate.
- Let’s assume that 100 percent of the reported donations were made in the USA.
- Let’s assume that the more than 15,000 participating charities are all based in the USA.
- Let’s assume that no donations would have come in on that day if it were not for #GivingTuesday.
With those assumptions in mind, let’s look more closely at the #GivingTuesday results:
• #GivingTuesday generated 0.026 percent of donations for the year despite the day itself accounting for 0.274 percent of the calendar. In other words, despite the big promotional push, #GivingTuesday produced a disproportionately low volume of giving.
• With more than 15,000 participating organizations, #GivingTuesday generated an average of just $6,091 per organization. While it’s nice to have the $6,091 of income, it’s hardly a transformational amount especially considering that that amount includes money that would have come in anyway.
Beyond the numbers we do know, we do not know how much money would have come in anyway. We do not know how many new donors were inspired to give. We do not know if organizations are able to retain #GivingTuesday donors. We do not know if larger organizations are simply siphoning support from smaller organizations. We do not know if #GivingTuesday simply shifts when people give without inspiring more people to give, more people to give more often, and more people to give more.
Let’s put #GivingTuesday into further perspective. Let’s compare the activity of more than 15,000 charities on #GivingTuesday with just one nonprofit organization, the ALS Association and its multi-week Ice-Bucket Challenge during the summer of 2014.
#GivingTuesday generated 698,600 hashtag mentions on Twitter. By contrast, the ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge was mentioned 2.2 million times on Twitter between July 29 and August 17, according to The New York Times. The ALS Association reports that it received more than $100 million in donations from July 29 through August 29 compared to the $45.68 million (or my inflated estimate of $91.36 million) generated with #GivingTuesday.
Put another way, the ALS Association received $100+ million for its effort while #GivingTuesday participants received an average of just $6,091. In addition, ALS reports that the Ice-Bucket Challenge generated 739,000 new supporters. Furthermore, ALS charities around the world raised millions of dollars more.
In considering which effort generated transformational results, I’d have to give the nod to the ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge over #GivingTuesday. It’s the Ice-Bucket Challenge that truly made a “huge difference.”
Looking through rose-colored glasses, #GivingTuesday might have had some positive impact. However, to suggest that #GivingTuesday made a “huge difference” is simply hyperbolic nonsense.
If we take off the rose-colored glasses, we see that #GivingTuesday has not significantly increased the philanthropic pie. Smaller organizations might actually be harmed by the occasion as organizations with larger budgets, staff, and reach siphon away support.
Furthermore, all organizations might be harmed if they are distracted by #GivingTuesday instead of putting in the effort where it could make a real difference such as a focus on donor retention or planned giving.
In defense of #GivingTuesday, some folks will argue that it’s about more than just raising money on a given day. It’s about inspiring philanthropy throughout the year; it’s about encouraging volunteerism; it’s about getting people to think more philanthropically.
To that defense, I say: Unless #GivingTuesday ultimately expands the philanthropic pie by getting more people to donate, donate more often, and donate more, what’s the point? It’s important to remember that it’s not activity that’s important; it’s results that lead to a positive outcome.
Yes, some charities seem to have benefitted from #GivingTuesday. But, if they did so at the expense of other charities, we cannot think it’s been good for the entire nonprofit sector.
Based on all of the available evidence, the best we can say is that #GivingTuesday has helped the nonprofit sector ever so slightly. However, the reality might be that #GivingTuesday has had a neutral or even negative impact on the nonprofit sector. We need more data over a longer period to know for sure.
Meantime, let’s stop kidding ourselves. #GivingTuesday might one day make a big splash. However, at this point, it has certainly not made a “huge difference.”
That’s what Michael Rosen says… What do you say?