Jump to: KEY DATES | ELIGIBILITY | FEES | INFORMATION AND WEBSITE

GiveBIG Washington is a one-day, online giving event that enables Washington State nonprofit organizations to acquire new donors and encourage deeper engagement by board members and current contributors. GiveBIG 2020 will take place on Wednesday, May 6 from 12:01 am through 11:59 pm, Pacific Time.

KEY DATES

October 29, 2020: Preparing for GiveBIG Washington 2020 Webinar

January 6, 2020: Registration opens

April 1, 2020: Registration closes

April 22, 2020 - May 5, 2020: Scheduled giving runs from midnight April 22 to midnight May 5.

May 6, 2020: GiveBIG Washington!

ELIGIBILITY

Which organizations are eligible to participate in GiveBIG Washington 2020?

Tax-exempt organizations (approved by the IRS) with a headquarters or a service location in Washington State are invited to participate in GiveBIG Washington 2020. This includes the following situations:

Global organizations headquartered in Washington State that provides services outside of the United States.
A "service location" means the organization is providing a direct benefit to Washington residents or communities at a site located within the state.
Tax-exempt organizations that are not 501(c)(3) charitable organizations can participate but must indicate on their profile that donations to the organization are not tax-deductible.

Nonprofit organizations that are approved by the State of Washington but do not have tax-exempt status from the IRS are not eligible. Individuals are not eligible.

Can my organization participate if we are fiscally sponsored?

Yes, as long as all other eligibility standards are met. When registering you will have the opportunity to note that you are fiscally sponsored. You will be asked to enter the Tax ID of your fiscal sponsor and its financial contact. Funds raised during GiveBIG will be distributed to your fiscal sponsor in their name with a memo attributing the funds to your organization.

FEES

What fees are associated with participating in GiveBIG Washington 2020?

In order to fund the media and promotional activities, outreach and fundraising training for nonprofits, and campaign staff, all participating organizations will pay a registration fee. While sponsors are providing some support, fees are essential for producing GiveBIG Washington.

This registration fee is in addition to the processing fee on individual donations, which pay for the CiviCore platform and credit card processing. Donors have the option to cover the processing fee, otherwise, the credit card processing fee will be deducted from the donations received on the platform and before disbursement to nonprofits at the end of the campaign. In 2019, 83% of donors covered the processing fee. The 2019 processing fee was 4.6%, this fee is not expected to increase for 2020.

What are the registration fees for GiveBIG Washington 2020?

Registration fees will be announced ahead of registration, no later than December 2. While GiveBIG Washington fees for 2020 have not been determined, they will be less than or equal to fees in 2019.

Returning organizations will pay 2.9% of what they raised on the platform in 2019, or less, regardless of matching funds. Fees are capped at $5,000. If you raised less than $1,000 your fee is only $10.

New organizations will pay on a sliding scale, based on their contributed revenue budget (the amount of funds you are attempting to raise from individuals in your fiscal year, excluding grants, contracts, or earned income like sales or fees). The sliding scale has not been set, but if your organization plans to raise less than $300,000 in a year, your fee will be $25 or under.

INFORMATION & WEBSITE

How do I register my organization for GiveBIG Washington 2020?

Registration will open at 9:00 am on January 6, 2020. Simply click on the registration button on the landing page or login to your organization's GiveBIG account. We suggest your Primary Contact, the individual who leads your organization's GiveBIG efforts, be the individual to go through the registration process. At the end of the process, your organization will be asked to pay your 2020 registration fee. We will be emailing all Primary Contacts and administrative users listed on organizational profiles, ahead of time, with pertinent information about registration, including fees, and notice that registration is open. To stay in the loop, follow 501 Commons on Facebook or LinkedIn. Organizational information from 2019 registration and profiles will carry over, but you will need to update it as necessary and provide additional information for 2020 once registration begins. If you participated in 2019, you can log in and update or add administrators at any time. It is not necessary to do this ahead of GiveBIG 2020 registration unless your contacts have changed.

How do I update the contact information for my organization?

You may add as many user accounts to your organization's profile as you would like, whenever you like by logging into your GiveBIG account. However, only the Primary Contact will be used for email communications. Once you log in go to My Organization, and choose Edit Organization Profile on the Profile Overview page.

How do I access my GiveBIG account if I participated in GiveBIG 2019?

Click on the Login in the top right corner of any page and then select Nonprofit. If you forgot your password, then use the Forgot password? function on the login page. If you cannot remember the email used for your account, then please contact the GiveBIG Support Team at givebig@501commons.org.

How do I access my GiveBIG account if I have not participated before or if I did not participate in 2019?

You will need to wait until registration opens in January 2020. Until then, make sure you subscribe to the GiveBIG Washington newsletter to stay connected and ready for registration!

What if I forget my password?

Click the Forget password? link on the login page and then you will receive an email with instructions to reset your password.

How do I stay informed about GiveBIG Washington?

Your Primary Contact receives the bulk of email communications. Ensure the Primary Contact on your GiveBIG profile is up to date and that you have added givebig@501commons.org as a Safe Sender to prevent GiveBIG Washington emails from ending up in your spam or junk mailbox. You can also stay up to date by subscribing to our GiveBIG email list. In our emails, the GiveBIG team will provide information that will help you set your GiveBIG campaign on a pathway to success. You can also follow 501 Commons on LinkedIn for nonprofit-focused news, including information about GiveBIG Washington.

How can I learn more about how to raise money through the GiveBIG Washington campaign?

We are providing training, guides and other resources to help you maximize your success during GiveBIG Washington 2020 as part of our Fundraising Assistance program. Trainings and other programs are free to those organizations that have registered and paid their registration fees.

Are GiveBIG webinars, seminars, and websites accessible to people with disabilities?

Yes. All seminars are held in accessible buildings and interpreters are available upon request. All webinars are hosted on YouTube with accurate captioning. However, we are continually looking at ways to improve the experience. If you notice something we missed, please let us know by contacting the GiveBIG Support Team.

What are matching funds and how do they work on the platform?

A matching fund is when a donor or group of donors agree, in advance of the campaign, to match all or certain types (e.g. first-time gifts, donations of more than a certain amount) of donations of other donors, either during a certain time period and/or up to a certain amount. This increases the impact of a donation by matching it, dollar for dollar. Dollar for dollar is what can be tracked on the platform; however, other arrangements can be made for less or more off-platform. Someone may want to offer a 50-cent-per-dollar donated or a 2-for-one match. Matching funds are proven to result in first-time and larger contributions.

Nonprofits can raise more money during GiveBIG if they secure matching funds, which encourage people to give. A matching fund of any size can incentivize donors to make a gift, or increase their gift, in order to help the organization achieve their match. We are strongly encouraging each nonprofit to secure matching funds. 501 Commons and GiveBIG Washington sponsors do not provide matching funds.

When you edit your nonprofit profile page, you can enter your matching fund information and acknowledge the generous donor(s) who made that gift (unless they want to be anonymous). The match is not processed through the GiveBIG platform, your organization is just entering the amount you have obtained in match off-platform. As online gifts roll in throughout the day, the matching gift meter will countdown $1 for $1 the amount needed to realize your match. It is a real time way to communicate with and motivate your donors.

How do peer-to-peer pages work on the platform?

Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising is when individuals tap into their network of friends, family, and colleagues through a fundraising campaign to raise money for a cause. Individuals can create a personal fundraising page as part of a GiveBIG Washington peer-to-peer campaign for your organization.

Once peer-to-peer campaign creation opens in mid-April, an individual can create a peer-to-peer page using just their name and email, which would be featured on your organization's profile. Once they customize and submit their fundraising page, organizations will be notified by email. The peer-to-peer fundraiser can then send the link to their friends and colleagues, and monitor their progress once scheduled giving begins. The campaign creator can edit their campaign at any time. The CiviCore platform will notify the organization whenever a P2P page change is made. The nonprofit can make a campaign inactive at any time should the campaign be identified as unhelpful or inappropriate.

Nonprofit Frequently Asked Questions