Alabama charities are richer after a Feb. 2 statewide fundraising effort.
Alabama Gives Day raised more than $800,000 and connected more than 8,000 donors to nonprofits like United Way, Boy Scouts of America, the American Cancer Society and the Humane Society, as well as smaller local charities.
"I was very careful to never tell anybody what we expected, because we had no idea how to gauge this," said Sharon Tinsley, president of the Alabama Broadcasters Association.
The ABA and the Alabama Association of Nonprofits--Razoo providing the online platform--put the event together to bring 1,093 nonprofits into the spotlight.
"We were very, very pleased," said Russell Jackson, manager for the inaugural Alabama Gives Day. "The media did a tremendous job to make sure the word got out, (and) the nonprofits that particpated did a great job."
Jackson said they are still collecting data from nonprofits regarding donations that were made in person and the number of first-time donors.
"This one day raises awareness for all those groups, and we want to remind people to give back to them," Tinsley said.
But while nonprofits at the top of the leaderboard saw totals greater than $10,000, others gained little to nothing from the fundraiser. Of the charities listed, 178 show nothing raised on the leaderboard.
One of those was Keep Opelika Beautiful.
"We really didn't promote it like we probably should have," said Tipi Miller, KOB director. "It just kind of snuck up on me."
Miller said it might have been better, at least for KOB, to have more advanced notice or to have the event at a different time of year.
"February and March and getting into April are our busiest times of the year," Miller said. "It was difficult to just promote one more thing."
Tinsley said the date is one major component being discussed as the next event is planned.
"We're going to look at the timing ... so that we can maximize that effort and make the biggest impact," Tinsley said.
Fundraising, however, is not the primary goal, Jackson said.
"A give day is not a fundraiser," Jackson said. "That's not the purpose of a give day ... (It's) really to have one day of an awareness factor unlike ever seen before to give nonprofits a platform to introduce their organizations."
Other states have large fundraising efforts as well. Colorado Gives Day raised $12.7 million in its most recent effort, and Minnesota's Give to the Max raised more than $13 million.
Tinsley said they were not discouraged by the disparity between Alabama and Colorado or Minnesota.
"It was the third time that they had each done it, and one did it in November and one in early December, when people are in the giving mood," Tinsley said. "(In February) people just got their credit card bills ... everybody's thinking about preparing their taxes, we had tornadoes in the state ... and I think that the fact that with all those things considered that we raised almost a million dollars in a day is phenomenal."
Jackson said another possible factor affecting the amount raised is Alabama Gives Day didn't push matching donations from businesses.
"Typically that comes in years two or three," Jackson said. "When you offer leverage like that, it really does increase the community response."
Tinsley said they may promote the texting option more in next year's event. This year, texting was mostly pushed by individual nonprofits who chose to use it--like East Alabama Youth for Christ.
"We didn't raise much," said Kevin Flannagan, executive director of Youth for Christ. "We were really pushing the phone texting and giving, and apparently AT&T wasn't working until late in the afternoon, and so we missed out on a lot of that."
But Flannagan said the event was valuable, even though they didn't raise as much as they would have liked.
"The reality is, it just helped visibility," Flannagan said. "The community got to know us better ... It would be worth it for that if we didn't raise any money."
In addition to raising awareness, Tinsley said the event was to make people more comfortable with online giving.
"It's so easy," Tinsley said. "Just a few clicks, and boom, it was done, and it sent me back immediately, in my email, a receipt that I could print for my tax records. The whole process was super simple."
Miller said while they prefer more traditional methods of raising funds, they would definitely participate again.
"It's very reassuring as a director of a nonprofit to know that ... Alabama is such a caring state," Miller said. "We have so many people throughout our state that really feel the need to give back when they've been blessed ... It speaks very highly of Alabama."
Tinsley said they have high expectations for next year's fundraising day.
"I think we've put the event on the map, so to speak," Tinsley said. "I think next time around more people will be aware, more nonprofits will participate, and we'll set a new bar."
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