BROOKINGS – The Day of Giving is over, but the need for giving exists all year, according to Dan McColley.

South Dakota Day of Giving occurred Dec. 3 and was a statewide opportunity for people to donate to any organization or group they want. The local take on it was Brookings Gives, said McColley, who is executive director of Brookings Area Habitat for Humanity. Habitat was one of 54 local organizations that benefited from the generosity. 

Donations for the second annual Brookings Gives were down, but McColley said donations to Brookings Habitat are about what they usually are.

Non-profits like Habitat rely on donations of money, time and advocacy – not just at the end of the year, but all year around, and that’s what McColley wants folks to remember. 

The Brookings Council of Non-Profits is a central hub for non-profits and their staff to network with each other and exchange information, McColley said. One of the things the Council of Non-Profits does is make the public aware of the work that non-profits do and how much they rely on the community for help.

The Brookings Council of Non-Profits will have a meeting at 8:15 a.m. Jan. 24 at Café Coteau in the Children’s Museum. All non-profits and interested parties are welcome.

Day of Giving history

“The National Day of Giving is always the Tuesday after Thanksgiving,” McColley said.

Day of Giving – also known as Giving Tuesday – was started in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y in New York City, according to National Day Calendar. It was an effort to bring attention to the charitable season and balance out Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

“The point of Day of Giving really has become to engage new donors,” McColley said.

Day of Giving is social media-based and tends to attract younger people. The goal is to keep them as donors to ensure the “longterm sustainability of your organization,” McColley said.

The financial needs of charitable organizations increase each year. The cost of things always rises; additionally, some organizations add services that cost them more money. Also, more people need the services of these organizations each year, putting a bigger strain on their finances.

“South Dakota launched its Day of Giving … in 2018,” McColley said. The state received “significant help” from the Numad Group and the South Dakota Community Foundation.

People could go to the South Dakota Gives website and make a donation. All the organizations were listed, and donors could make a contribution to a specific one or more than one. 

To help launch that first Day of Giving, the Larson Foundation “put up an incredibly generous match for all donations that came to non-profits in Brookings County from donors in Brookings County,” McColley said.

A total of 25 organizations took part in 2018.

“I think we raised like $300,000,” McColley said.

Even better than the money was the heightened awareness.

“That is a significant win for non-profits in Brookings County because … half the people who gave on that day were first time donors,” McColley said. 

The average gift was $45.55, “surprisingly high,” he added.

Day of Giving 2019

The Larson Foundation supported Day of Giving 2019 with events like a prize pool and other ways, but did not match donations, McColley said.

There were more organizations participating this year with 54, but only about $165,000 was raised, McColley said, pointing out there was about half as much money to spread out over twice as many organizations.

“What we found (in 2018), there was a huge incentive for donors to make their year-end giving on that particular day (because the match doubled what they gave to the organizations),” McColley said.

Even though the 2019 fundraiser was lower, he’s not panicking.

“Without that incentive, the dollars were down, but I’m seeing in my organization that year-end giving is about what it always is,” he said.

The challenge all the organizations are facing is how can they engage the new donors on an ongoing basis.

Can still give

If you missed Day of Giving, don’t worry. It’s not the only way people can give to local charities, McColley wants to remind folks.

“People can always donate. In fact, we encourage people to donate on a monthly basis,” he said.

If you donate $120, it might be a bit tight to do the whole amount at the end of the year with all the other expenses that occur then, but with monthly payments, it’s only $10 each time and much easier to afford. 

It helps the non-profits, as well.

“It’s predictable cash flow for organizations,” McColley said.

People often donate a lump sum at the end of the year, “and then January looks a little slower,” McColley said. “It’s easier to get through February if we have monthly donors who are giving, who are taking that year-end impact and dividing it out over 12 months.”

Every gift, no matter how small, counts.

“In Brookings County, there is incredible need in any number of areas, whether it be food insecurity or helping children build healthy and positive relationships and networks, whether it’s homelessness, whether it be affordable housing. There’s incredible need in this county, and there are incredible resources and enormous generosity,” he said.

Inspiring giving

The organizations that help all of those folks rely heavily on people’s generosity, McColley said.

“Donor motivation is tricky, but I think that donors, they have things that they want to accomplish in their life,” McColley said.

“People who donate to Brookings Habitat know the family that we’re building with, or care deeply about the cause of affordable housing and know the transformative … lifelong effect that owning a home has on a family,” McColley said.

People who want to support the entire county tend to support the United Way, which supports multiple other organizations, he added.

“A non-profit is an avenue for a donor to accomplish what they want to accomplish in their life, but can’t do personally,” McColley said. “Combined with hundreds and thousands of others, there can be a meaningful impact on the world.” 

Mission of non-profits

That philosophy inspired the first Day of Giving and the Brookings Council of Non-Profits.

“Maree Larson of the Larson Foundation brought together a group of non-profit executives to talk about South Dakota Day of Giving and invited us to join that effort,” McColley said.

He found out Brookings County has more than 400 registered non-profits.

“That number shocked me, and it shocked a number of other people in the room,” McColley said.

“I wanted to find a way that the work that I’m doing with Brookings Habitat could be supported by these other organizations and that the work of the other organizations could be supported by Brookings Habitat,” McColley said.

For instance, Habitat can build houses and Habitat’s Re-Store has household goods, but they don’t carry clothing or toiletries or help with food. Now that McColley knows which other organizations offer products and services his doesn’t, he can send families where they need to go. 

He helped organize the Brookings Council of Non-Profits a year ago in January. 

“We filled Café Coteau with interested people,” he recalled

He hopes to do that again this month.

“So we can continue to lift up those families that are struggling and make their lives and make our county stronger,” McColley said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.