Hi, I hope you are enjoying the first notes of autumn. As we move toward the giving season, we thought it was time for an update on what’s been happening at Every.org.

The short version of our progress is “Wow!” but here is a longer version:

Growth. We are growing at an incredible pace. Our key performance indicators for 2024 year-to-date are up by 80% or more compared to the same time period in 2023. Here’s a quick snapshot:

  • Total donated: $18.4M (+91% YoY)
  • Active nonprofits: 1,212 (+81% YoY)
  • Active donors: 17,323 (+107% YoY)
  • Micro-donations (tips) to Every.org: $157K (+164% YoY)

Micro-donations are essential to keeping our platform free, so we’re encouraged by recent product improvements that are increasing these contributions.

Partnering for change on Give to Women and Girls Day. We have been selected as the official giving platform for Give to Women and Girls Day on October 11, 2024. Hosted by Amplify Her Charitable Foundation and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, with partners including Pivotal, The Asia Foundation, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and Giving Tuesday, this day aims to galvanize awareness and funding to offset the inequity that only 2% of all philanthropic funding goes to support women and girls. We’re honored to play a role in closing this gap and anticipate helping to raise millions of dollars for this cause.

Welcoming fiscally sponsored projects. Every.org is the first online giving platform to take a strategic approach to onboarding fiscally sponsored projects, helping them overcome unique challenges they face in gaining visibility and funding. Fiscally sponsored projects use the tax ID number of their sponsors, which has made it difficult for them to be found on giving platforms like ours and Charity Navigator or through a donor-advised fund. With support from the Gates Foundation and Fidelity Charitable Catalyst Fund, we’re making it easier to find and give to these projects. We started by bringing Myriad USA and its projects onto our platform, and we are currently onboarding fiscally sponsored projects of the Tides Center.

Relational fundraising bootcamp. We recently wrapped up a quick training effort with nine smaller nonprofits to help them increase their donor retention rates by creating opportunities for them to get to know their donors better. We have been working with renowned experts Beth Kanter and Rhea Wong to teach and support organizations as they move away from transactional fundraising practices (“chip in $5 today or the sky will fall!”) to more relational practices such as asking donors how giving to their organizations made them feel. We don’t just mean taking a large donor out for lunch; we want organizations to do this at scale so that every donor feels like a million bucks! This is possible with a shift in mindset, a good plan, and the smart use of artificial intelligence (AI). We will share reflections on this bootcamp later this fall.

Innovating with artificial intelligence. Speaking of AI, we have very exciting plans to use AI to increase the “stickiness” of our site for donors. This means making donors feel thanked and appreciated for their donations through storytelling and timely updates that encourage them to give again. Curious about our plans? We’ve got a great deck outlining exactly how we will do this. We’d be happy to share it with you! Just ask.

Finally, a reminder of why we do this work. LifeStraw Safe Water Fund is a B corporation that sells innovative products to turn any kind of water into drinking water. They have added our donate button to their website. When you click on the button, you go to their page on Every.org.

LifeStraw won’t be the largest fundraiser on our site, but they are incredibly important to us. We are values-aligned with them in wanting to use technology to make the world safer, healthier, and more equitable.

We are sometimes asked why we’re a nonprofit organization. There are companies that do this work. Why don’t we just make some money for ourselves? LifeStraw is why, and so are Black Sisters in STEM and Washington Heights Community Choir. These organizations might not have the name recognition or budget of larger nonprofits, but making fundraising easier and less expensive for them is why Every.org exists.

Thank you for your interest in Every.org and your support and enthusiasm for our work. I invite you to reach out with questions or to learn more about what’s next for Every.org. Drop me a note at allison@every.org.

Onwards!

— Allison