“I can’t believe how quickly southeastern Minnesota donated $1 million,” I told my wife at the conclusion of the match portion for the Otto Bremer Foundation’s March Millions campaign. The foundation sought to match gifts up to $1 million for qualifying nonprofit organizations throughout the month of March. By March 4 the $1 million had been claimed thanks to generous donors in our communities.

Seven lucky nonprofits in Albert Lea were eligible for the match with about 100 others across the region. The generosity of the Otto Bremer Foundation was spectacular, and the willingness of donors to meet the match was inspiring. I had assumed the match would be met, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would only take four days for the nonprofits to get there. I think most people were just as surprised as I was.

I’m proud for us as a region for reaching this goal so quickly. We’re blessed with so many organizations doing quality work in our area, and to have donors recognize that what they’re doing is worthy and worthwhile speaks well for our area. This amount of giving is impressive on many levels, as it reveals some interesting information about our communities.

1. People are willing to give quickly when a need arises. We aren’t in the midst of a disaster, but these donations rushed in as if southeastern Minnesota was responding to another flood. Disasters naturally bring people together, but one wasn’t needed to make March successful for our nonprofits. Knowing a gift of $10 would be turned into $20 was an incentive large enough for people to act quickly.

2. People want to maximize the impact of their gift. This one seems like a no-brainer, but had these nonprofits collectively set out to raise $1 million in the month of March without the match incentive, I’m sure they’d still be fundraising past March 4. People feel good when they donate, and they feel even better knowing their donation is going further to improve their community.

3. People are willing to give large gifts. When gifts are made to 100+ nonprofits totalling $1 million in just four days, it means people aren’t holding back with their gifts. Four days isn’t enough time to build up hype for $1 million to be given with many small gifts. In my mind, gifts that large mean donors weren’t just giving because they were asked, they were giving because they believed in the work that these organizations accomplish. That’s exciting!

4. People are generous outside of the holiday season. Perhaps foolish of me to limit people to giving only one time a year, but when I think about donating to nonprofit organizations, I typically think of it taking place around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Charity Navigator cites an online giving study from 2013 that revealed 30 percent of annual giving occurs in December and 10 percent of annual giving occurs in the last three days of the year. Nonprofits rally around Give to the Max Day and Giving Tuesday in November, but people are willing to give, and give generously, year round.

I hope we continue to see giving increase to these nonprofits in the weeks and months to come. Their hard fundraising work certainly isn’t done, but it’s no doubt that our communities will be impacted greatly by the matched donations. Hopefully the Otto Bremer Foundation will be able to highlight the work of what their match has accomplished beyond a large monetary gain. With the match, nonprofits in southeastern Minnesota now have a combined total of $2 million to change their communities for the better. I may have been surprised with how quickly $1 million in donations was matched, but I won’t be surprised when I hear about all the good that is accomplished when it is awarded to quality programs making our community better and people in need.

 

Rochester resident Matt Knutson is the communications and events director for United Way of Olmsted County.