Omaha Gives 2014 Evaluation Report Final—March 2015 Abhishek Bhati, Catherine Humphries Brown, and Dr. Angela Eikenberry School of Public Administration, University of Nebraska at Omaha 0 Omaha Gives! 2014 Evaluation Omaha Gives 2014 Evaluation Report Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Findings ......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Who Participated and Why? ..................................................................................................................... 8 Nonprofit Organizations ....................................................................................................................... 8 Types of Organizations that Participated .......................................................................................... 9 Why Organizations Participated ..................................................................................................... 14 Why Organizations Did Not Participate .......................................................................................... 16 Donors ................................................................................................................................................. 17 Younger Donors .............................................................................................................................. 18 New and First Time Donors ............................................................................................................. 19 Why Donors Participated ................................................................................................................ 21 Impact of Omaha Gives! ......................................................................................................................... 23 How Much Was Raised and By Which Type of Organizations? .......................................................... 23 Donation Amounts and Increments ................................................................................................ 23 Organization Amounts Raised ......................................................................................................... 25 Factors in Fundraising Success ........................................................................................................ 33 Overall Giving ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Expanded Giving.............................................................................................................................. 37 Rate of Return and Return on Investment ...................................................................................... 41 Nonprofit Capacity Building ................................................................................................................ 42 Perceptions of the Omaha Community Foundation ........................................................................... 43 Experiences of Participants ..................................................................................................................... 45 Donors ................................................................................................................................................. 45 What Resonated with Donors ......................................................................................................... 46 Communication ............................................................................................................................... 47 Website ........................................................................................................................................... 47 Third Party Processing Fees & Matching/Prize Funds .................................................................... 48 Types of Nonprofits Participating ................................................................................................... 49 Nonprofit Participants ......................................................................................................................... 49 1 Omaha Gives! 2014 Evaluation Organizational Size .......................................................................................................................... 50 Website ........................................................................................................................................... 51 Third-Party Processing Fees ............................................................................................................ 51 Compared to Previous Omaha Gives! and Other Fundraising ........................................................ 52 Conclusion & Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 52 Recommendations to Improve Processes........................................................................................... 52 Expand & Make Easier Payment/Gift Options ................................................................................ 53 Improve the Website ...................................................................................................................... 53 Provide Better/More Information for Donors and Nonprofits ....................................................... 54 Expand/Improve Trainings & Consider Vetting Process ................................................................. 55 Recommendations to Improve Outcomes .......................................................................................... 56 Target Young and First-Time Donors .............................................................................................. 56 Focus on Long-Term and Strategic Nonprofit Capacity Building .................................................... 57 Clarify the Purpose and Scope of Omaha Gives! ............................................................................ 58 Appendix A: Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix B: Giving Days across the United States ..................................................................................... 63 2 Omaha Gives! 2014 Evaluation Omaha Gives 2014 Evaluation Report Executive Summary The Omaha Community Foundation (OCF) held its second giving day, Omaha Gives!, on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. The goals of this year’s event were to: Raise awareness for nonprofits and philanthropy in general, Engage younger and new donors, and Build the capacity of nonprofits, including telling the story of their impact and online fundraising skills. In this second evaluation of Omaha Gives!, researchers set out to assess the degree to which the goals of Omaha Gives! 2014 were met by addressing the following questions: 1. Who participated in Omaha Gives and why? 2. What was the impact of Omaha Gives? 3. What were the experiences of the participating donors, nonprofit organizations, and organizers and how can it be improved? 4. How did this year compare to last year’s event? Research questions were addressed using several methods, including drawing on surveys of nonprofits and donors who participated in Omaha Gives!, giving data, published secondary data, and interviews with OCF staff, donors and nonprofit representatives who participated and did not participate in Omaha Gives! The findings from the evaluation research suggest Omaha Gives! did reach its goals. It generally drew community and media attention and nonprofit participants said that it increased awareness of their organizations as well as increased and changed awareness about OCF. Many organizations appeared to gain younger and new donors while also engaging existing donors and volunteers in a new way. Finally, it helped expand organizational capacity in several areas, including enhancing operating funds and diversifying funding from individual giving. More might be done in the future to increase the participation of new and younger donors and help nonprofit organizations to improve strategically telling their stories through social media and building capacity. It may also be helpful for OCF to better clarify and communicate the purpose and scope of Omaha Gives! Who Participated and Why A total of 569 nonprofit organizations participated in Omaha Gives! 2014; 251 organizations more than the first year; a 79% increase. The largest portion of organizations were in human services. From 2013 to 2014, participants increased in all program service areas, and the highest percentage increase was among religious organizations. One-third (34%) of participating organizations had budget sizes of less than $100,000. Comparing 2014 to 2013, there was a slightly greater percentage of organizations with budget sizes of $300,000 and above in 2014 (53.5%) as compared to 2013 (52%). One-third (32%) of nonprofit participants provided services in Douglas County only. The rest provided services in Sarpy and Pottawattamie Counties in addition to or instead of in Douglas County. 3 Omaha Gives! 2014 Evaluation The most cited reasons organizations