Civic Engagement
Closing the Funding Gap in Philanthropy
The Problem
Nearly 77% of Black-led nonprofits operate on less than $500,000 annually, with almost a third managing on just $30,000. Endowments for organizations with Black, Latino, Asian, or Native American leaders are four times smaller and have significantly less revenue than white-led peers. Small nonprofits in general also struggle with limited resources and uncertain funding. Part of this problem is that larger organizations have larger networks and more dollars to get the attention needed to attract donations. We partnered with Charity Navigator—a platform where millions of donors research and give to nonprofits—to figure out how we can shift donors’ attention and funds to smaller, underfunded organizations.
Our Solution
Through research and donor conversations, we identified four ways to to help donors discover and support overlooked organizations on Charity Navigator:
Share curated suggestions to donors while they’re browsing the platform, via pop-ups, and with an email right after they make a gift.
Make the organizations’ value clear by emphasizing their impact and why they deserve support
Show donors nonprofits that operate close to home–in their state or region–to create a connection
Present short lists of three to five organizations that do work donors already care about
The Results
We tested these solutions during the 2023-2024 giving seasons through two pilots on Charity Navigator's platform with thousands of donors.
Post-Gift Recommendations sent emails after donations featuring curated lists of underfunded organizations aligned with donor interests. Half of the emails included a funding match. All of the emails generated interest; adding a matching donation offer led to more donations and larger gifts.
In-the-Moment Recommendations showed pop-ups to users in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi while they were browsing, featuring curated lists of local nonprofits. The results were striking:
Recommended nonprofits were:
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↑ 43%
more likely to receive unique visitors
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↑ 165%
more likely to receive donations through the platform
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↑ 65%
larger average gifts received by recommended nonprofits
Overall, these organizations saw a 253% increase in total dollars donated. Language that emphasized why organizations deserve support proved most effective.
Based on these results, Charity Navigator integrated these recommendations into their platform, which is used by millions of donors annually.
