GivingPulse Field Guide | Q3 2024

Table of Contents

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Welcome to the GivingPulse Field Guide!

RKD Group is teaming up with GivingTuesday to provide this companion to the Q3 2024 GivingPulse Report.

The goal of the Field Guide is to give nonprofit organizations actionable insights based on the data found in the report. Two of our strategy experts—Jenn Thompson and Stephanie Kirk—have examined the findings and are zooming in on a few areas that stand out.

With the year-end giving season behind us, this issue of the Field Guide is geared toward building long-term strategies that shift from channel-first to audience-first communications.

Here are three areas that we’ll examine:

  1. Where your constituents live
  2. What your supporters believe
  3. How donors respond to a crisis

Let’s take a closer look at each area, the data that corresponds to it and the strategic recommendations that nonprofits can take from it.

1. Where your constituents live

A new element that debuted in the Q2 2024 GivingPulse report was Generosity Profiles and Community Types.

In Figure 4.6, we see a breakdown of urbanization and the effect it has on generosity. It shows a slight drop-off in dedicated generosity for suburban neighborhoods and higher concentration in dedicated generosity for urban neighborhoods.

Breaking this down even further into community types, Fig. 4.7 shows the biggest decline from activated to dedicated comes in the Exurbs—defined by the American Communities Project as sitting just outside of major urban centers. The report’s conclusion is that the sprawl, lack of diversity and solo-commute environment of the Exurbs may not generate “the social conditions for the elevated generosity of the Dedicated profile to take place.” In other words, there’s less of a sense of community.

Media Asset 2

Field Guide Recommendations:

  • This all ties back to the Q1 Field Guide where we highlighted the connection between community and generosity. To some, community is a physical location, so build your messaging on how their generosity impacts their local community when you can. If you’re a local/regional organization, which community types fit your area best? How do you bring people together and encourage them to be part of their community?

 

  • For national and international organizations, you likely have donors across many or all of these community subsets. Consider each group’s motivations and understand how to shape your messaging to tell your story through the right lens. 

 

  • Use digital media to target different audience groups with differential creative and messaging. Digital media can rapidly optimize the right message to the right audience. 

 

  • The utilization of maps and recognizable landmarks helps to make the communication personal. Highlighting the impact the donor is having in their specific zip code and/or city drives a sense of eagerness and purpose for their community. 

 

  • Prioritize capturing compelling videos, photos and stories that are regionally specific. Authentic narratives, integrated across all channels, inspire supporters to action and drive meaningful engagement.

Additional Resources Asset 

Additional Resources

2. What your supporters believe

Coming off the recent presidential election, the Q3 2024 GivingPulse Report also examined giving behavior by Pew Typology—Pew’s nine political types—to help understand how political ideology impacts charitable giving.

Regardless of how your organization engages (or doesn't) in political discourse, understanding the political ideologies of your communities is important. Fig. 1.7 breaks down the different political typologies and how they map to different generosity behaviors.

There’s a lot to digest in those charts, but here are a few insights from the GivingPulse Report:

  • Despite a wide range of beliefs, giving patterns are relatively similar.
  • The most centrist group that doesn’t identify strongly with a political party, Stressed Sideliners, is also the most likely to give money (61%).
  • Committed Conservatives (55%), Ambivalent Right (53%) and Outsider Left (53%) are most likely to volunteer.
  • More centrist groups like Ambivalent Right and Stressed Sideliners are most likely to give to registered nonprofits or an informal group.
  • More centrist identities like Ambivalent Right (81%) and Democratic Mainstays (76%) also give more informally.
  • More polarized groups like Progressive Left (53%), Committed Conservatives (66%) and Populist Right (66%) appear least likely to give to registered nonprofits.

Media Asset 2

Field Guide Recommendations:

  • The U.S. has only two major political parties, and we tend to think in terms of “red” and “blue.” This chart reminds us that political views and behaviors are not binary. There is a correlation between where donors live and what they believe (which will be examined in greater detail in the Q4 GivingPulse Report). We know certain regions lean one way or the other in their political views, but remember that those views are a spectrum.

 

  • Again, use digital media to target different audience groups with differential creative and messaging. Centrist groups were more likely to give, so how can you tell your story and frame your ask as one person helping another?

 

  • Knowing more about your audiences can help you decide to leverage their Pew types. Appending data and reviewing your donor personas can be helpful for:
    • Planning your media investments to reach the most likely donors
    • Testing creative choices (e.g. more or less faith-based imagery or references)
    • Deciding on budgets to reach more of a particular audience

Additional Resources Asset 

Additional Resources

3. How donors respond to a crisis

Whether it’s ongoing global conflicts or more localized disasters like the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, there are always people who are motivated to help during a crisis.

The Q3 2024 GivingPulse Report took a close look at how world events and crises affect charitable giving. The report included Fig. 5.2: How people responded to the recent crisis they identified.

One quarter said they “already responded with generosity,” while another 34% said “not yet, but intend to.” Finally, 41% said they ignored the recent crisis.

Media Asset 2

Field Guide Recommendations:

  • Times of need drive people to give and volunteer, but there are still some who sit on the sidelines. How can you inspire more people to show their generosity? Think of these “disaster donors” as an audience that receives unique messaging and strategies.

 

  • When disaster strikes, relevancy is key. Define exactly what you need and exactly how you’re helping so people new to your cause will understand your organization’s place in this moment.

 

  • Speed is also essential. If you wait too long, you’ll miss the moment. Once you know what you want to say, start spreading that message across your various channels of communication (don't forget texting). Don’t waste time finding the “perfect” image or design. Keep it simple.

 

  • Be authentic with your messaging and images. Show the need. Share a video of someone explaining how they’ve been impacted. Share photos, not heavily crafted imagery.

 

  • Emergencies and disasters will bring many first-time donors to your organization. Once the immediacy of the crisis begins to subside, think about how you will continue to engage this audience. They’re not as committed to your cause as your regular donors and volunteers, and they will require extra attention if you want to retain them.

Additional Resources Asset 

Additional Resources

Examples of success

Engaging communities in the Big Apple

Is Friday a good day for fundraising? Most nonprofits would say no.

But Food Bank For New York City has really gotten creative with engaging different communities through their “Five Borough Friday” digital campaigns.

This started as a single “day of giving” campaign, and it turned into leveraging the fact that every year features four or five months that contain five Fridays. This was used to make the connection that Food Bank For New York City serves the five boroughs of New York—Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and The Bronx.

In the 2024 fiscal year, Five Borough Fridays accounted for 6% of their one-time gift revenue.

Rapid response during LA wildfires

News about the Los Angeles wildfires broke on Jan. 8, 2025.

Los Angeles Mission, which helps people break the cycle of homelessness and poverty in the city, knew they needed to move quickly to meet the immediate needs of the moment.

Within 24 hours, Los Angeles Mission (LAM) and their digital partner deployed a lightbox and a new landing page on their website for people affected by the fire to find the latest fire news and resources during this public emergency.

During that same time period, they enacted an emergency fundraising program to send an email appeal and launch a new donation form specifically for wildfire relief.

In the following days, LAM launched two additional fire-specific landing pages with forms for people needing help due to the fire (I NEED HELP) and people wanting to volunteer, give supplies or provide funding (I WANT TO HELP). They also deployed a homepage banner, unique CTA buttons, a text message appeal and digital ads.

In total, the digital fundraising appeals brought in 219 gifts and more than $20,000 in just over a week. The ability to move quickly during this disaster helped connect people who wanted to help with an organization in the community.

LA Mission website home page
Long Heart Pulse

Conclusion

We hope that you can apply the recommendations provided in this Field Guide to deliver meaningful results to your nonprofit organization. Through this collaboration, our goal is to inspire nonprofits to interpret and utilize current data and trends from GivingTuesday to shift fundraising behavior.

We would love to hear from you if you’re planning to implement these recommendations in the months ahead or if you’d like to share a success story based on these recommendations. Please contact us at fieldguide@rkdgroup.com to be included in the next Field Guide.  

About RKD Group 

RKD Group is North America's leading fundraising and marketing solutions provider, serving hundreds of growth-focused nonprofit organizations. Leveraging technology, advanced data science, and award-winning strategic and creative leadership, RKD Group accelerates net revenue growth, builds long-term donor relationships, and drives the best return on investment. For more information, visit rkdgroup.com.  

  

About GivingTuesday and the Data Commons

GivingTuesday is a movement that unleashes the power of radical generosity around the world. It was created in 2012 at New York’s 92nd Street Y and incubated in its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact. What started as a simple idea of a day that encourages people to do good has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity year-round. The movement is brought to life through a distributed network of entrepreneurial leaders who lead national movements in more than 100 countries across the globe. An integral part of the global generosity movement is the GivingTuesday organization, which offers support and resources to GivingTuesday leaders and fosters connection and collaboration across the network. For more information, visit givingtuesday.org. 

 

The GivingTuesday Data Commons is a global network that enables data collaboration across the social sector. The Data Commons convenes specialist working groups, conducts collaborative research into giving-related behaviors, reveals trends in generosity and donations, and shares findings among its global community. With more than 170 data partners and 1,800 collaborators, the Data Commons is the largest philanthropic data collaboration ever built.