Listen to Andrew Means, Lilly Weinberg, Mike Berkowitz, Victoria Fear, and Jeannie Howell discuss how community foundations and nonprofits can approach giving days as an opportunity to build their data, digital skills, and organizational capacity.
Listen to Andrew Means, Lilly Weinberg, Mike Berkowitz, Victoria Fear, and Jeannie Howell discuss how community foundations and nonprofits can approach giving days as an opportunity to build their data, digital skills, and organizational capacity.
As part of our Give Day Lessons series, Markets for Good partnered with Knight Foundation to host a virtual roundtable discussion examining key findings from Knight’s new report, Beyond the Dollars: The Long-Term Value of Giving Days for Community Foundations, released on August 10.
The culmination of a three-year initiative, Beyond the Dollars presents exciting evidence of how giving days can be used to not only support fundraising but data-driven capacity building for community foundations and nonprofits.
Moderated by Andrew Means, the roundtable included Lilly Weinberg, Program Director for Community Foundations, Knight Foundation; Mike Berkowitz, Co-Founder and Principal, Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies; Victoria Fear, Programs Officer, The Miami Foundation; and Jeannie Howell, Community Impact Officer, Sacramento Region Community Foundation.
The expert panel discussed how community foundations and nonprofits can harness giving days as opportunities for gathering, using, and sharing data; growing their digital skills and reach; and building their capacity to advance their missions and boost their impact.
A few highlights:
- Giving days compel community foundations and nonprofits to engage with digital technology: Mike Berkowitz discussed how social sector organizations need to know the ins and outs of their giving platforms, take a serious and purposeful approach to data collection and security, and clearly understand the meaning and value of the data they collect.
- Giving days can be a source of valuable data to advance organizational strategy and goals: Victoria Fear discussed how The Miami Foundation uses digital tools and data from Give Miami Day to map and connect donors and nonprofits, identify and cultivate new supporters, and build a stronger culture of community and philanthropy in greater Miami.
- Giving days can drive capacity building for community foundations and nonprofits: Jeannie Howell described how Sacramento Region Community Foundation aligns its Big Day of Giving with its strategic efforts to expand philanthropy in its region, and how it uses data to tailor nonprofit training that can have a huge impact for its nonprofit partners.
- Giving days can have a significant impact — but they are not for all community foundations: Lilly Weinberg discussed the organizational commitments, risks, and rewards involved in running a major giving day, including the potential upsides and downsides of the digital technologies and strategies used to plan and run these major fundraising events.
To listen to the full discussion, use the audio player above, download the podcast (mp3, 35 MB), or visit the new Markets for Good podcast on iTunes! You can also read the full transcript.
If you missed them, check out the previous podcasts in our Give Day Lessons series: Giving Day Fail: Lessons for Digital Infrastructure and Giving Day Technology: Making Good on the Big Day and Beyond.
Be sure to also check out Knight Foundation’s Giving Day Playbook for a host of useful resources for planning and running your giving days.
Have tips, stories, or thoughts to share about giving days and digital data? Chime in below with a comment!
To stay up to date with the latest from Markets For Good, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter. Better yet, become a contributor!