By Hilary Smith
For more than a decade, during the week after Thanksgiving, GivingTuesday has rallied millions around the world to fundraise for their favorite causes. Each holiday season reminds us to show up for our communities and the people who need our help the most. But this year, participation is more important than ever—because as GivingTuesday CEO, Asha Curran, recently told me, we’re facing what she called a “nonprofit recession.”
By all measures, nonprofit donations have declined in 2023. Major donations are down 10%, new donation amounts are down 34%, and there are 20% fewer new donors. Even donor retention is down 5%. Non-dollar measurements have dropped too: Volunteer hours have consistently decreased.
I had assumed this was the product of macroeconomic forces that have touched so many Americans in the past year. From high-interest rates to global inflation, people are struggling to make ends meet.
But according to Asha, in addition to those factors, this nonprofit recession has been exacerbated by something less obvious: a marketing problem. With 1.8 million nonprofits in the U.S. alone, it has become a serious challenge for these organizations, particularly the small and mid-sized ones, to garner attention. Case in point: Across all organizational priorities, nonprofits reported having to rethink their communications strategy and increase their digital fundraising efforts.
Not only that, but these challenges will likely have ripple effects, since in times of economic stress, nonprofits often fill crucial gaps. For instance, some food banks have reported twice the number of people using their pantries since before the pandemic. That means as needs grow across the country, the pressure on nonprofits grows, too. In the past year, three out of four nonprofits suffered from job vacancies—yet another reminder that they need our time and resources, right now.
A different model to help nonprofits
That’s what led NBCUniversal to launch our Creative Impact Lab, a unique model that combines grants, career mentorship, and media exposure to bolster nonprofits.
The program makes grants to nonprofit creative agencies hiring apprentices from underrepresented communities. These agencies are then matched with volunteers from inside NBCUniversal—creative experts like executive producers, directors, editors, and marketers—to develop marketing assets for a nonprofit. Then, with donated advertising inventory across television, digital, and streaming, we’re able to air these assets, amplifying the nonprofit’s message in front of a large audience of potential donors and volunteers. So far, our partners have accessed $2.6 million in exposure from media produced in the Lab, generating almost 16 million impressions.
This combination of financial resources, volunteer hours, and our unique skills and assets has yielded powerful results. For example, last year, mentees from PhillyCAM, Philadelphia’s public access network, collaborated with our producers to bring to life the story of Cradles to Crayons, a nonprofit providing low-income children with necessities like clothing. In a heart-wrenching 30-second public service announcement (PSA), a young child speaks to the camera as he gets ready for school, sharing how clothing insecurity affects kids like him, and how to help.
After the PSA aired during a highly anticipated Notre Dame women’s basketball game, Cradles to Crayons’ phones immediately started to ring. “In the three weeks that followed, we had a 400% increase in donor registrations from individuals in over 20 states,” said Karen Grant, vice president of Cradles to Crayons’ clothing donation program, Giving Factory Direct.
Lean on your strengths
For philanthropically-minded corporations and citizens, Lab’s lesson is clear: To address the multiple challenges faced by nonprofits today, companies need to embrace multiple approaches—beyond monetary giving—that ideally play to their unique strengths.
Fortunately, some companies already understand how they can help nonprofits do what they do best. Consider how Nike gave healthcare workers thousands of pairs of sneakers, designed specifically to help them stay comfortable on their feet while caring for patients. Other companies have used their products to facilitate programming, like when Apple supplied students in underfunded classrooms with iPads.
Indeed, every company has talents and teams that can assist organizations working on the ground. Whether you’re providing high-quality marketing assets, assisting with financial plans, supplying products, or consulting in your area of expertise, we can help cash- and time-strapped organizations serve more people, attract new donors, and support volunteers.
When more industry leaders step up and deploy their unique assets for the greater good—when we give more, and more creatively—we’ll hopefully help end the nonprofit recession and improve our communities at large.
That’s the story we really need to tell—this GivingTuesday, and all year round.
Hilary Smith is executive vice president of corporate social responsibility for NBCUniversal.
(0)
