Serving Diverse Organizations on Give STL Day
In January, the St. Louis Community Foundation hosted an in-person discussion with nonprofits to identify ways Give STL Day, the Community Foundation’s online day of giving, can better serve BILPOC*-led and –benefitting organizations.
In its 10-year history, Give STL Day has raised more than $30 million for nonprofits serving the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. While this generosity and support is astounding, we must acknowledge that organizations with diverse leadership are funded at levels drastically lower** than their white-led counterparts.
More than 40 nonprofits convened at the Community Foundation to share their ideas on how the Community Foundation can begin to address this disparity through Give STL Day. Three key themes emerged from the discussion, which was led by Tamyka Perine, Executive Director of LEAD STL. Nonprofits asked the Community Foundation to take a leadership role in:
- Simplifying Give STL Day participation;
- Enhancing visibility for smaller organizations;
- Encouraging partnership and collaboration.
The Foundation has identified and implemented the following changes to improve the Give STL Day nonprofit and donor experience:
- Simplified and shortened the nonprofit registration form;
- Expanded the search filters for nonprofit mission categories and audiences;
- Created a new search filter for organizations with BILPOC leadership, making it easier for donors to find and support them;
- Adjusted the operating budget tiers so that organizations would be distributed more evenly and grouped with peers of a similar size;
- Refreshed our resource center with editable, customizable text and graphic templates;
- Reviewed our nonprofit training schedule to ensure that the topics align with the challenges nonprofits said they are facing, such as content creation, media relations, and stewardship.
For the upcoming Give STL Day on May 9, 2024, we will also:
- Prioritize small (operating budgets of $1,000,000 or less) and BILPOC-led organizations in media opportunities;
- Invite nonprofits to submit video content for our Give STL Day livestream, prioritizing submissions from small and BILPOC-led nonprofits and those that demonstrate collaboration between organizations;
- Direct more of our cash prize pool towards small and BILPOC-led nonprofits;
- Provide donors with resources on navigating the Give STL Day website and using the new search filters to become more intentional with their giving.
In the long term, our team will pursue creating more in-person opportunities for nonprofits and donors to connect around Give STL Day, ways we can encourage partnership and joint fundraising projects, and additional strategies to help donors leverage their Give STL Day generosity. We look forward to engaging our donors around equitable and intentional charitable giving practices, an important component of our five-year strategic plan, a Foundation for the Future.
We are grateful for the feedback we received and invite nonprofits who are interested in continuing the conversation to join our Give STL Day Nonprofit Advisory Board. The Advisory Board plays a vital role in informing the direction of Give STL Day. More information can be found here.
Save the date for the next Give STL Day on May 9, 2024.
*BILPOC is an acronym for Black, Indigenous, Latine, and People of Color.
** Young, Black, and Giving Back Institute’s “Grassroots, Black & Giving: How Philanthropy Can Better Support Black-led and Black-Benefiting Nonprofits“