Give STL Day was created by the St. Louis Neighborhood Basis in 2014. Over the previous eleven years, Give STL Day has grown right into a 24-hour on-line giving occasion supporting over 1,000 nonprofit organizations within the St. Louis space. Emily Baumann, Communications Supervisor, is the first lead for Give STL Day with the help of her colleagues on the St. Louis Neighborhood Basis.
Since its inception, Give STL Day has efficiently mobilized 160,000 donors and raised over $34 million. Moreover, they’ve granted a cumulative $1.9 million in prizes and generated $11 million in matching funds. Learn extra beneath to learn the way Give STL Day has reached such a profitable magnitude:
Making a Change
“After we started contemplating a platform swap, Mightycause shortly rose to the highest of our listing as a result of it felt fashionable and intuitive. It checked all our packing containers for essential options, and we have been excited in regards to the ending touches, similar to personalized thanks pages and extra nonprofit profile customization choices. Lastly, we felt that the Mightycause group was genuinely invested in Give STL Day’s success. It was their folks as a lot as their product that sealed the deal.” – Emily Baumann, Give STL Day.
After a radical analysis, Give STL Day chosen Mightycause as their platform of selection for the primary time in 2024. Give STL Day utilized Mightycause’s migration companies to front-load their giving day web site with group profile parts, admin entry, and donation historical past for current occasions, and to streamline the transition for all members.
“It was extraordinarily essential that our collaborating nonprofits felt as if Give STL Day had all the time been run by means of Mightycause. As a result of we had ample time to organize for the information merge, we have been in a position to clearly talk all the small print to our nonprofit companions and decrease confusion. Mightycause made what may have been a really annoying and difficult platform swap extraordinarily clean!” – Emily Baumann, Give STL Day.
Following a difficult 12 months in 2023 resulting from a technical outage on Give STL Day with their earlier platform accomplice, re-establishing the belief and confidence of over 1,000 nonprofit companions was high precedence. Switching to a brand new platform in Mightycause set the inspiration for an improved nonprofit expertise, however there was nonetheless uncertainty in studying (and educating) new know-how in time for the giving day.
Strategic Roadmap to Success
Coaching Webinars: In preparation for Give STL Day, Emily arrange a radical coaching schedule for nonprofits of all sizes to make sure fundraising success. She partnered with companies and consultants to current concepts and methods for content material creation, advertising, fundraising, and social media/e-mail campaigns. Moreover, Mightycause led two webinars in collaboration with The St. Louis Neighborhood Basis to offer a registration walkthrough, nonprofit dashboard demonstration, and fundraising options deep dive. The mixture of those webinars, together with a well-managed library of their recordings within the Give STL Day nonprofit toolkit, supplied a select your individual journey for nonprofits to obtain help the place they most wanted it.
Mightycause Assist Library: Emily and the St. Louis Neighborhood Basis group utilized Mightycause’s intensive help middle when working with nonprofits to organize for Give STL Day. Many questions got here to Mightycause Assist straight, however through the use of the help articles supplied on Mightycause’s web site, Emily and her colleagues have been in a position to present helpful help to nonprofits by sharing articles that included screenshots and walkthroughs for every side of the platform the nonprofits had questions on.
Electronic mail Communications: Along with hands-on coaching and help, the Give STL Day group scheduled a radical sequence of e-mail communications main as much as Give STL Day. These emails included a transparent name to motion, data on FAQs, upcoming occasions and coaching schedules, and useful hyperlinks. By scheduling emails to exit usually, Emily efficiently supplied bite-sized items and related data every week to maintain nonprofits targeted within the midst of a lot change. Emily’s dedication to speaking with nonprofits contributed to nonprofits’ confidence within the Give STL Day program.
Neighborhood Engagement
Whereas coaching and preparation have been key to offering a optimistic nonprofit consumer expertise, particularly on a brand new platform, the implementation of Give STL Day was seemingly a very powerful half. A number of in-person occasions supplied time for the nonprofits to community with one another in addition to the St. Louis Basis because the host of Give STL Day.
The group basis hosted a nonprofit breakfast and media alternative the day earlier than Give STL Day at their lovely workplace out in Oak Knoll Park. That very same evening, nonprofits have been invited to desk and play trivia at The Armory, an enormous occasion house in St. Louis. These alternatives to work together with different Give STL Day members, donors, and occasion workers supplied a way of group and open communication between the nonprofits and their giving day host.
On Give STL Day, Chris Strub, “The Giving Day Man” hosted a livestream of nonprofit interviews from Union Station within the coronary heart of downtown St. Louis. The chance to be featured on the livestream made nonprofits really feel seen and heard by their group and by the Give STL Day group. Nonprofit interviews ran for almost 12 hours throughout the giving day and included tales of influence, overview of packages, and a particular go to from one rescue organizations’ pet and kitten.
As an added bonus, the Mightycause group was invited to St. Louis for the festivities and had the chance to satisfy nonprofits and supply help on web site for Give STL Day. Working collectively nose to nose fostered emotions of partnership and belief that have been mirrored within the platform’s efficiency on Give STL Day.
“I completely cherished having our Mission Supervisor onsite throughout Give STL Day. After months of weekly conferences, I felt like my buddy was coming to go to me. Having her there was massively useful”.
Outcomes
General, Give STL Day raised simply over $4 million, together with all donations, prizes, matching grants, and donor suggested funds. There was additionally a rise in charges coated by donors, with 95% of charges coated by donors in 2024, compared to 75% in 2023. Take a look at their press launch right here for extra data!
Classes Realized
In reviewing Give STL Day, we discovered a couple of widespread themes that will assist different giving occasions efficiently put together nonprofits for his or her giving day:
- Efficient coaching and help are essential for fulfillment.
- Constant and clear communication builds confidence.
- In-person occasions foster group and engagement.
“Give STL Day is an incredible day as a result of at its core, it’s a celebration of the nonprofits that make my hometown an exquisite place to reside. The function I’ve in supporting them as they put together and government their giving day plans is extraordinarily rewarding. 2024 seems like our greatest 12 months but—the nonprofit pleasure, media consideration, and group engagement have been by means of the roof. It was actually a group effort between the St. Louis Neighborhood Basis and Mightycause, particularly our fantastic undertaking supervisor. This partnership makes me really feel much more enthusiastic about the way forward for Give STL Day!”
