Unlock the transformative power of philanthropy with Kyle Penney, president of the East Texas Communities Foundation, as he explores the impact of East Texas Giving Day. Discover how this event is not just about meeting donation goals, it’s a celebration of generosity that unites 32 counties in a common goal. East Texas nonprofits, big and small, receive a lifeline through the collective efforts of people ready to make a difference. From the simplicity of online donations to the personal touches of celebration pages, this effort demonstrates how easy and fulfilling it is to contribute to the greater good.
Prepare to be moved by stories of organizations who have seen their missions soar thanks to the Giving Day, and learn about the positive impact on the people they serve. Witness the strategic prowess of nonprofits as they navigate the 18-hour fundraising window, leveraging social media and personal networks to amplify their causes.
TRANSCRIPT
LANDESS:
At the end of April for a period of 18 hours, East Texans will be able to pick and choose their favorite nonprofit and make a donation with a few keystrokes on a phone, a tablet or a computer. I’m Mike Landess. UT Tyler Radio Connects with East Texas Communities Foundation President Kyle Penney, to find out more about how it all works. Your organization works with nonprofits in 32 counties.
PENNEY:
Sure, it’s a huge geographic area, but there are so many fantastic nonprofits doing great work day in and day out across the whole East Texas region. And it’s a privilege for us at the Communities Foundation to be able to support them through this one event, this one-day fundraising event, where we try to raise the awareness of folks about these great organizations and give folks an opportunity to support them.
LANDESS:
To simplify this, this form of giving is as easy as buying a blender on Amazon, right?
PENNEY:
It is, yeah, it’s kind of the Amazonification of charitable giving. So we want to make it as easy as possible. So there’s one place to go to — easttexasgivingday.org, and then it’s basically a shopping cart. You can read and learn as much as you want about all these different organizations. You can search them, you can use filters and look for organizations that are in a particular category or a particular geographic location, and then just read to your heart’s delight. And there’s a button where you can push and make a contribution.
LANDESS:
It’s pretty simple. To be clear, East Texas Giving Day is April 30, but one can go online right now and participate, right?
PENNEY:
That’s correct. So early giving started on April 8. So it’s kind of interesting. You can go to easttexasgivingday.org right now and watch the counter, the money, the dollars are rolling in. You can see how many people have contributed. You can look at each of these organizations, see how much each of them has raised. But the main event is actually on April 30, and that’s where the large majority of our contributions come in on that one day.
LANDESS:
Now, tell me a little bit more about that. How did the effort go last year, and what is this year’s fundraising goal for East Texas Giving Day?
PENNEY:
Yeah, so last year we had about 350 organizations participating. This year that number’s gone up. We’ve got about a dozen more. We’ve got a little over 360 organizations participating this year. So each time a new organization comes on they bring a whole new group of volunteers and supporters that then get exposed to all the other nonprofits that are participating. So it’s kind of six degrees of Kevin Bacon or the Rosso’s concentric circles of influence.
PENNEY:
So all of that is meshed together. So we raised about $2.8 million last year on nearly 6,000 contributions. So we don’t have a specific goal, but with more organizations and more experience from the organizations that are participating, it’d be nice to crack that $3 million mark.
LANDESS:
Well, here’s a question for you. In a time where things seem to be so iffy financially for so many folks, how difficult has it been over this past year in terms of connecting with folks who are ready to step up this time around?
PENNEY:
Well, you know, we’ve seen increased interest again with the number of organizations that are participating. We’ve seen strong interest in what, we set up matching gifts for these organizations. So we’re seeing a lot of activity in that area. And the actual giving that’s taking place right now seems to be a positive indicator. So, as you said, yeah, things are tight on a lot of folks, but people recognize the contributions that these organizations make to our community and are looking for ways to support them.
LANDESS:
Give us some context on this. How did Giving Day begin?
PENNEY:
So Giving Days began probably 15 years ago. We followed for a number of years what was going on in North Texas — the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. They have “North Texas Giving Day.” And there’s different software providers that help make the giving possible. We don’t have the technology in-house or have the ability to build the technology that runs a Giving Day, so there’s some vendors out there that are doing good work in it. We looked at several different models and tried to set up a model that was best for our community. So, for example, some of the models will have a large pool of prize money. We have a fairly modest pool of prize money, but we allow each of the nonprofits to raise their own matching dollars, so you’re not just getting a small percentage of some pool that we could manage to cobble together. You actually can work with your own donors and try to set a match that is more specific to your organization, more reasonable, that you can set a target where you can reach.
LANDESS:
The 18-hour component kind of brings a beat-the-clock aspect to Giving Day. Do you find that most of the funds are received while that clock is ticking?
PENNEY:
Oh, absolutely, yeah for sure, that 18 hours makes all the difference. In fact, a lot of the nonprofits are gearing all their social media and their interactions toward that one day. So if you’re starting to get emails from your favorite charities about East Texas Giving Day, this is just the prelude. It really builds up on that one day. And the idea behind a Giving Day is to do giving in a more boisterous way than it’s typically done. Giving is typically a quiet, private event, but that’s not the way Giving Day works. Giving Day is an opportunity for you to support one of your favorite charities and then post that on social media. You don’t have to give the dollars and cents that you gave, but it’s helpful if you say, hey, I just gave to this organization or that organization and this is why you should check it out. So it’s that viral nature of neighbor telling neighbor about who they’re supporting and why. That really creates the excitement and the enthusiasm around giving on that one day.
LANDESS:
This is a conversation that takes place across that back fence, that virtual back fence, as it were. Now I guess we should point out that some charities have a robust fundraising plan that goes on all year, but not all nonprofits doing good work in East Texas have that luxury.
PENNEY:
That’s correct. So a lot of nonprofits are just operating kind of gift to gift. So this is a way for them to raise annual support. We don’t say this is for particular capital campaigns. Some organizations may be focusing on that, but what we’re trying to do with our nonprofits is help them raise much-needed annual support in a way that some of these donors wouldn’t typically give, and then also to hopefully attract new donors because of the social influences of the donors that they already have. So when you contribute and tell somebody about it, it’s your gift and you’re telling that story of why you gave a gift to that organization. That may be a positive influence on someone else to say, hey, I didn’t know that organization existed, I didn’t know so-and-so was involved in that or supported that or how they were impacted by it. And it’s that nature of just communication across social media that helps people recognize the opportunities and the great work that these charities are doing and the chance to support them.
LANDESS:
In the years that you’ve been involved in this, you have got to have some great stories about wins and pluses and woo-hoos and all of this sort of thing. Share one with us.
PENNEY:
Well, it’s always great to see an organization reach their goal. So an organization, for example, may set a $10,000 matching gift goal. And on the website, when they hit that goal, a little trophy pops up. But it’s really great to see the nonprofits utilize the resources that we’ve provided for them through this platform and then use that opportunity to reach out to their donors and thank them. So one of the best examples was All Saints Episcopal School does such a great job following up on the day of the event. They don’t let the sun set on your contribution. They have folks who are in the room at the school throughout the day watching the activity on Giving Day and immediately responding and thanking their donors. So that’s a fantastic way to really celebrate giving by those donors in a tangible and quick way.
LANDESS:
With more than 600 charities this time around, what a great opportunity for those charities to network.
PENNEY:
It is. You know, the charities have an opportunity. We have several training sessions throughout East Texas, so it’s great to see the chatter at break times during our trainings where they – they’re also learning what other organizations do. Some of them, so many of them operate kind of in a silo just trying to do their work, with their heads down and working hard. It’s great when they can come up, look around and see other organizations that are serving a lot of times some of the same community members but just in a different way.
LANDESS:
So someone will surely ask, “What’s in this for the East Texas Communities Foundation?” Are you guys getting any of those funds?
PENNEY:
No, it actually passes through, and we spend quite a bit of our own personnel resources trying to manage the event. But one of the main reasons we do it is that opportunity for nonprofits to attract new donors. That just really stood out to us when we looked at all the reasons why you would do a Giving Day. It’s so hard to find new donors, and this is a unique way to give that encourages that interaction among donors and influencing their friends, so we think that’s a great win. We see between 25% and 35% of donors indicate that they’re a first-time donor to an organization. So as long as that number stays strong, we’re going to try to keep supporting these nonprofits.
LANDESS:
Any final thoughts to share, Kyle?
PENNEY:
You know one of the things that’s unique, and we’ve had it for the last couple years, but there’s still an opportunity all the way up to Giving Day to create a celebration page.
PENNEY:
So a celebration page is where a donor for a particular nonprofit goes to that organization’s page on East Texas Giving Day, clicks a button that says, “I want to create a celebration page,” and then you can tell your own story. You can either write it out, you can put a video on there, you can put some pictures, you can tell your personal story about why that organization is important to you, and you can set a personal goal. So, for example, I was in Henderson the other day with the Boys and Girls Club of Rusk County. The Boys and Girls Club has set a goal of $5,000 for East Texas Giving Day. But if you set up a celebration page, you could say, “Hey, I want to try to attract my friends, and let’s see if we can raise $500 toward that goal.” So it’s just another fun way for you to get more engaged and help the organizations that are important to you.
LANDESS:
Thanks for listening as UT Tyler Radio Connects with Kyle Penney, president of East Texas Communities Foundation. For UT Tyler Radio News, I’m Mike Landess.
(Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain phonetic spellings and other spelling and punctuation errors. Grammar errors contained in the original recording are not typically corrected.)
