Idaho Gives is by far the largest celebration of charitable giving in the calendar year and there are great expectations for 2022.
If all goes as hoped, the team at the Idaho Nonprofit Center expects nearly $4,000,000 in donations to be funneled to hundreds of nonprofits across the Gem State.
And the pace quickens the moment the four-day event launches at the stroke of midnight on Monday, May 2.
“There's actually a prize for the first nonprofit to get a donation through the portal,” said Kevin Bailey, CEO of the Idaho Nonprofit Center, referring to IdahoGives.org, the centerpiece of the give-a-thon.
Bailey visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about plans for the 2022 edition of Idaho Gives and the growing importance of nonprofits to Idaho’s economy.
“Nonprofits employ tens of thousands of folks - almost 60,000 folks in 2022.”
Read the full transcript below:
GEORGE PRENTICE: It is Morning Edition on Boise State Public Radio News. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. Idaho nonprofits are such an important part of our lives: our health care, our culture, our fitness.. and so much more. Particularly in the past couple of years, we've learned how, quite frankly, Idaho wouldn't be Idaho without our nonprofits. Which brings us to Idaho Gives - a highlight of the year, coming up next week. So, let's bring in Kevin Bailey, CEO of the Idaho nonprofit Center. Mr. Bailey, good morning.
KEVIN BAILEY: Good morning.
PRENTICE: We have been leaning a lot on our nonprofits.
BAILEY: We certainly have. Over the last two years during the pandemic. I like to say Idaho runs on non-profits, and that's certainly been the case before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and will continue to be the case after the pandemic. So I think my message as we go into Idaho Gives next week is always if you're a person who cares about the vibrancy, the financial stability, the livability and quality of life in your local community, then you really need to care about how nonprofits are doing in your community.
PRENTICE: Idaho Gives is so unique. We like to call it a give-a-thon, if you will. And while the record campaign was something close to $3.9 million, it was rather stunning to see that at the height of the pandemic, the 2021 Idaho Gives saw totals close to $3.8 million. So impressive. So, I've got to ask: do you and your colleagues must have great expectations for this year?
BAILEY: So it'll be a four-day giving event this year. So next week, May 2nd through May 5th, we are really, really hoping that Idaho rallies around the state to get us over that $4 Million marker. That would be a huge milestone. So please tell your neighbors, tell your friends. That's the goal we want to get to. So we have $1,000,000 that we can get each day. Right. So that's the goal. Let's average $1,000,000 over four days and get over that $4 Million mark.
PRENTICE: The thing that I'm always drawn to is that so often we may not know about a particular nonprofit or we may not know its name, but we know what we care about. And the Idaho Gives online engine can direct us based on our passion and based on the type of charity that we're drawn to.
BAILEY: So, no matter what your passion is, you'll find that passion listed on Idaho gives dot org. We have over 630 organizations registered again throughout the state of Idaho. So these are all Idaho-based organizations, all working in your backyards and your local communities. And whether your passion is the animals, health care, the arts, or just the vibrancy of your community, you'll find that cause at Idaho gives dot org. And we really encourage donors to jump into multiple causes, review the pages. Each organization controls the content of their own page, and Idaho gives that org. So if they want to put up a video, if they want to tell a story, if they have a specific thing they're fundraising for, for this campaign, that's something that those donors can explore and find out directly on those pages. So it's a really great opportunity to do some research to spread those dollars around to multiple causes and to get involved.
PRENTICE: And it is a great equalizer in that, well, the state's biggest nonprofits, organizations that we know fairly well, are almost on equal footing with small nonprofits who wouldn't normally see this kind of exposure.
BAILEY: Yeah, it really democratizes the process of of allowing every organization, whether you're an organization that has an annual budget of $50,000 or an organization that has an annual budget of $50 million, everyone has the same one page. Idaho gives that org the same platform and the same reach, really. And that's our job at the nonprofit center as the host of Idaho gives is we're the venture was really created to rally donors and rally the communities across the state around the importance of nonprofits and nonprofits thrive when they're well resourced, when they're funded well, when they're supported. Individual giving is still the largest segment of the giving pie. It's larger than grant makers and other institutional giving sources. So nonprofits are still reliant on individual donors. And this is a big part of, for many orgs, what they'll raise this year.
PRENTICE: Can you speak briefly about how nonprofits continue to be a significant economic engine in Idaho?
BAILEY: Yeah, so we had an economic impact report that we published in 2020 and it is being renewed for 2022. So it'll be really interesting to see the data come out of that. The University of Idaho partners with us on that. And before the pandemic, nonprofits were directly responsible for employing about 64,000 Idahoans. And that's just a huge number when you think about it. It's the sixth largest sector by employment. So what's economically speaking in our communities, in our state, the financial health of nonprofits is really the economic health of our communities and nonprofits. Many people think of nonprofits as being run by all. Volunteers or having lower wages, that kind of thing. But nonprofits really do employ competitive wage jobs and employ tens of thousands of folks, almost 60,000 folks in 2022.And those are family sustaining jobs. And we're a big part of the economy. We're a big part of what makes our communities tick and go and thrive. And our communities could not be the places they are to live in without nonprofits and the partnerships and the value that they create for our local communities.
PRENTICE: One more time: What are the particulars? It goes from when to when?
BAILEY: Yeah. So Idaho Gives runs from May 2nd to May 5th. The donations open up right at midnight on May 2nd. There's actually a prize for the first nonprofit to get a donation through the portal, right when that thing opens up… they will win a monetary prize. So there's always those donors who are waiting for that clock to strike midnight. And whoever's iPhone hits midnight first, I guess they go and we'll see how that all that electronic system who gets jammed in there and gets through the finish line first. So that's always kind of fun. There are other prizes for donations from the farthest bank account address from Idaho. So if you've got friends in the Far East or Southeast Asia, let them know now's the time to get involved. But I don't give springs in. Obviously, it's 16,000 plus donors. The vast majority of those donors are Idahoans that live right here and work right here. But we've seen donations come in from all over the world, other states, people that have been touched by Idaho in some way or folks that used to live here and want to support their favorite nonprofit. So it's really cool to see all those come in and where they come from.
PRENTICE: And the all important website is IdahoGives.org. He is Kevin Bailey, CEO of the Idaho nonprofit Center. Kevin, you and your colleagues need to get some rest; and great good luck to you all next week.
BAILEY: Yeah. Thank you very much, George. We appreciate it. And we're looking forward to another year of Idaho Gives.
Find reporter George Prentice on Twitter @georgepren
Copyright 2022 Boise State Public Radio
