Georgians Rallied to Support Nonprofits in Year-End Giving Campaigns
ATLANTA – With over $29.3 million in donations, amassed from more than 190,000 gifts, #GAgenerosity set another giving record for this year’s GAgives on GivingTuesday campaign – an 8 percent increase over last year’s record-breaking total!
Of that total, more than 14,600 gifts were made through the official GAgives.org platform, contributing $2.79 million to 1,100-plus organizations. Thanks to the continued generosity of Georgia’s donors, as well as donor-incentivising prize sponsors like Arby’s and WestRock, the GAgives movement has raised more than $122.8 million for nonprofits throughout the state since its launch in 2012.
As nonprofits worked to reach new donors while contending with the effects of increased demand, rising costs, and resource shortages, ongoing GAgives host Georgia Center for Nonprofits (GCN) once again organized this celebration of giving, bringing together nonprofits, philanthropic and for-profit partners, and individual Georgians for a 30 Days of #GAgenerosity campaign, culminating on GivingTuesday, Nov. 29. With almost 100 Georgia nonprofits taking part for the first time and a record-setting fundraising total, GAgives on GivingTuesday 2022 was another resounding success!
Thanks to generous donors such as West Rock, Arby’s Foundation, Carrs Riggs & Ingram, Mauldin Jenkins, and The Grant Partners, organizations had the chance to earn even more through Leaderboards, where additional funds were given to organizations with the most donors, as well as Power Hours, Golden Tickets, and Early Giving contests.
Leaderboard and Power Hour prizes were all determined by the unique number of donors, so that every donation – whether $5 or thousands – would help that donor’s nonprofit-of-choice earn even more funds. This year also saw a rise in overall Leaderboard numbers: The top six performers in last year’s WestRock Leaderboard, which tallies overall totals for GivingTuesday, counted 3,952 individual donations; this year the Leaderboard top six totalled 4,502 donors, with the no. 1 organization, FurKids, netting a total of 1,014 donations! As for Power Hours, the top WestRock Power Hour for 2021 inspired $100,300 in donations; the top Power Hour this year raised $142,902 for Charis Circle. And while the minimum online donation through GAgives.org is $5, the average gift made through GAgives.org this year was $127.
Success Stories
- This year, WestRock Leaderboard winner LifeLine Animal Project set and surpassed its highest goal ever. Managing Atlanta’s two largest open-admission shelters, the Fulton and DeKalb county shelters, means they will never turn away the animals who need them. In a time of overcrowded shelters and lower adoption rates, they continue to care for more than 3,000 adoptable animals in their shelters and foster homes, each costing an average of about $40 a day. The funds they raised through GAgives will make a true impact on the pets they care for and the community of pet owners they serve.
- As first-time participants, it was an exciting accomplishment for Preparing and Nurturing Education and Learning (PANEL, Inc.) to earn a winning spot in Arby’s End Childhood Hunger Power Hours. The funds they raised will be used to continue their work alleviating hunger in their community, including their Childhood Hunger Initiative Power Pack program, run in collaboration with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s local Xi Beta Omega chapter for the Atkinson Elementary School in Griffin. Designed to offer a supply of free meals and snacks for students, the program provides students in need with a bag of food each week for weekends and holiday breaks.
- Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue, a WestRock Leaderboard, Early Giving, and Power Hour winner, works with overburdened animal control facilities to pull animals who are in danger of euthanasia due to overcrowding – looking especially for the frightened dogs who are huddled in the back of the kennels, the seniors bewildered by their circumstances, and the medically vulnerable. Funds raised this year through GAgives have already saved lives: Economic conditions are making it difficult for families to make ends meet, and very often family pets must be surrendered to keep food on the table. Moses, a deaf and blind 15-year-old chihuahua mix will enjoy the holidays with his new family. Carter, who was found near death on the side of the road, is now wagging his tail hiking with his new dad. Slim, who had been abandoned in an apartment for 8 days before he was found, now has a family who adores him.
- The Truancy Intervention Project (TIP), a WestRock Power Hour winner, will use funds raised for its school partnerships, including work to improve student attendance by promoting a positive school climate and social-emotional regulation skills among students. In 2022, TIP has provided “social-emotional learning kits” (SEL kits) to classrooms in two partner schools, each containing fidget toys and other items that students can use to calm themselves when they are upset. By providing each classroom in the school with an SEL kit, students can find tools to regulate their emotions without having to leave the classroom and miss academic instruction. Teachers have already noted that the kits are helping students manage their emotions and speak in a more kind way to one another. TIP also runs a truancy prevention life skills group for fifth graders, where they learn about healthy relationships, anger management, relationship-building, and emotional regulation.
- The funds raised for Must Ministries, an Arby’s Foundation Leaderboard winner, will go towards the construction of a new health clinic that will assist those with no health insurance – numbering more than 1.4 million in Georgia – who often delay care because they can’t afford it, causing illnesses and injuries to worsen and, sometimes, to become life-threatening. The new clinic will help those with chronic pain and other issues.
- HealthMPowers, an Arby’s Foundation Leaderboard winner, WestRock Power Hour winner, and Golden Ticket Winner, uses GAgives on GivingTuesday as a way to engage staff and community in peer-to-peer fundraising. They’ve tripled annual donations over the past five years, and their donor count continues to climb – growth they attribute in large part to the vibrant culture of giving cultivated through GAgives. Thanks to the competitive leaderboards, rewards, and engagement, their annual FUNraising Day on GivingTuesday has become a highly anticipated tradition for staff, who spend time together to team-build, rally supporters, and have fun. Sponsor-supported prizes provide motivation that has been essential to their success, but so has the “fun” aspect: This year, the staff member with the most donations made in their honor won the opportunity to (gently) smash a pie in the face of their CEO!
- For FurKids, the top WestRock Leaderboard winner, and winner of a WestRock Power Hour and The Grant Partners Golden Ticket, GAgives means they can look into the eyes of some 1,000 frightened, hungry cats and dogs and say “Yes, today, we can save you from certain death, and we will lead you to a happy, loving home.”
- One Hundred Miles, a WestRock Golden Ticket winner, participated in GAgives on GivingTuesday 2022 as part of its $100,000 Challenge, with a goal to raise half that total by Nov. 29. At the end of the day, they were grateful to hit their fundraising goal of $50,000! They received much positive feedback from their network about the social media campaign of the day, and will be using the funds raised to address the Georgia Coast’s most pressing issues – including climate change, haphazard development, wildlife conservation, and cultural heritage preservation – as they chart the future of the Georgia Coast, protecting and preserving it for our children and our children’s children.
“From Georgia’s nonprofit workers, who dedicate their professional lives to serving others, to the vast numbers of donors and volunteers across the state, who dedicate their valuable money, time, and talent to supporting nonprofits, #GAgenerosity was on true display in 2022,” said GCN President & CEO Karen Beavor. “While we’re proud to highlight our state’s nonprofits during GAgives on GivingTuesday, donations can be given through GAgives.org year-round. For those that have yet to give this year, regardless of the size of your donation, we encourage you to share what you can, and help nonprofits continue to support their communities – needed all the more right now, as nonprofits step up to meet the challenges of increased demand, the ongoing effects of the pandemic, staffing and volunteer shortages, and inflation. Now is truly the time to embrace the season of giving and provide added hope in the new year.”
Save the date for next year’s GAgives on GivingTuesday: November 28, 2023.
About GAgives
Led by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, GAgives on GivingTuesday aims to bring attention to the work and worth of the nonprofit sector. Since its founding in 2012, the GAgives movement has raised more than $122.8 million for the nonprofits across Georgia working tirelessly for positive and lasting change.
About GivingTuesday
Launched by the 92nd Street Y in 2012 and housed in its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact, GivingTuesday is a global movement inspiring people to take collaborative action for their local communities and contribute to the causes they believe in. The movement reaches millions of people, with campaigns and activities in all 50 states and 150 countries, throughout the year, culminating on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
About the Georgia Center for Nonprofits
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits builds thriving communities by helping nonprofits succeed. Through a powerful mix of advocacy, solutions for nonprofit effectiveness, and insight-building tools, GCN provides nonprofits, board members, and donors with the tools they need to strengthen organizations that make a difference on important causes throughout Georgia. Learn more at gcn.org.
