Case Study: How Give STL Day Amplified Community Support for Local Nonprofits

Give STL Day was created by the St. Louis Community Foundation in 2014. Over the past eleven years, Give STL Day has grown into a 24-hour online giving event supporting over 1,000 nonprofit organizations in the St. Louis area. Emily Baumann, Communications Manager, is the primary lead for Give STL Day with the support of her colleagues at the St. Louis Community Foundation.

Since its inception, Give STL Day has successfully mobilized 160,000 donors and raised over $34 million. Additionally, they have granted a cumulative $1.9 million in prizes and generated $11 million in matching funds. Read more below to learn how Give STL Day has reached such a successful magnitude:

Making a Change

“When we began considering a platform switch, Mightycause quickly rose to the top of our list because it felt modern and intuitive. It checked all our boxes for necessary features, and we were excited about the finishing touches, such as customized thank you pages and more nonprofit profile customization options. Lastly, we felt that the Mightycause team was genuinely invested in Give STL Day’s success. It was their people as much as their product that sealed the deal.” – Emily Baumann, Give STL Day. 

After a thorough evaluation, Give STL Day selected Mightycause as their platform of choice for the first time in 2024. Give STL Day utilized Mightycause’s migration services to front-load their giving day site with organization profile elements, admin access, and donation history for recent events, and to streamline the transition for all participants. 

“It was extremely important that our participating nonprofits felt as if Give STL Day had always been run through Mightycause. Because we had ample time to prepare for the data merge, we were able to clearly communicate all the details to our nonprofit partners and minimize confusion. Mightycause made what could have been a very stressful and challenging platform switch extremely smooth!” – Emily Baumann, Give STL Day. 

Following a challenging year in 2023 due to a technical outage on Give STL Day with their previous platform partner, re-establishing the trust and confidence of over 1,000 nonprofit partners was top priority. Switching to a new platform in Mightycause set the foundation for an improved nonprofit experience, but there was still uncertainty in learning (and teaching) new technology in time for the giving day.

Strategic Roadmap to Success

Training Webinars: In preparation for Give STL Day, Emily set up a thorough training schedule for nonprofits of all sizes to ensure fundraising success. She partnered with businesses and experts to present ideas and strategies for content creation, marketing, fundraising, and social media/email campaigns. Additionally, Mightycause led two webinars in collaboration with The St. Louis Community Foundation to provide a registration walkthrough, nonprofit dashboard demonstration, and fundraising features deep dive. The combination of these webinars, along with a well-managed library of their recordings in the Give STL Day nonprofit toolkit, provided a choose your own adventure for nonprofits to receive support where they most needed it. 

Mightycause Support Library: Emily and the St. Louis Community Foundation team utilized Mightycause’s extensive support center when working with nonprofits to prepare for Give STL Day. Many questions came to Mightycause Support directly, but by using the support articles provided on Mightycause’s website, Emily and her colleagues were able to provide valuable support to nonprofits by sharing articles that included screenshots and walkthroughs for each aspect of the platform the nonprofits had questions about.

Email Communications: In addition to hands-on training and support, the Give STL Day team scheduled a thorough series of email communications leading up to Give STL Day. These emails included a clear call to action, information on FAQs, upcoming events and training schedules, and helpful links. By scheduling emails to go out often, Emily successfully provided bite-sized pieces and relevant information each week to keep nonprofits focused in the midst of so much change. Emily’s dedication to communicating with nonprofits contributed to nonprofits’ confidence in the Give STL Day program.

Community Engagement

While training and preparation were key to providing a positive nonprofit user experience, especially on a new platform, the implementation of Give STL Day was likely the most important part. Several in-person events provided time for the nonprofits to network with each other as well as the St. Louis Foundation as the host of Give STL Day. 

The community foundation hosted a nonprofit breakfast and media opportunity the day before Give STL Day at their beautiful office out in Oak Knoll Park. That same night, nonprofits were invited to table and play trivia at The Armory, a huge event space in St. Louis. These opportunities to interact with other Give STL Day participants, donors, and event staff provided a sense of community and open communication between the nonprofits and their giving day host. 

On Give STL Day, Chris Strub, “The Giving Day Guy” hosted a livestream of nonprofit interviews from Union Station in the heart of downtown St. Louis. The opportunity to be featured on the livestream made nonprofits feel seen and heard by their community and by the Give STL Day team. Nonprofit interviews ran for nearly 12 hours during the giving day and included stories of impact, overview of programs, and a special visit from one rescue organizations’ puppy and kitten.

As an added bonus, the Mightycause team was invited to St. Louis for the festivities and had the opportunity to meet nonprofits and provide support on site for Give STL Day. Working together face to face fostered feelings of partnership and trust that were reflected in the platform’s performance on Give STL Day.

“I absolutely loved having our Project Manager onsite during Give STL Day. After months of weekly meetings, I felt like my friend was coming to visit me. Having her there was hugely helpful”.

Results

Overall, Give STL Day raised just over $4 million, including all donations, prizes, matching grants, and donor advised funds. There was also an increase in fees covered by donors, with 95% of fees covered by donors in 2024, in comparison to 75% in 2023. Check out their press release here for more information!

Lessons Learned

In reviewing Give STL Day, we found a few common themes that may help other giving events successfully prepare nonprofits for their giving day:

1. Effective training and support are crucial for success.
2. Consistent and clear communication builds confidence.
3. In-person events foster community and engagement.

“Give STL Day is an amazing day because at its core, it’s a celebration of the nonprofits that make my hometown a wonderful place to live. The role I have in supporting them as they prepare and executive their giving day plans is extremely rewarding. 2024 feels like our best year yet—the nonprofit excitement, media attention, and community engagement were through the roof. It was truly a team effort between the St. Louis Community Foundation and Mightycause, especially our wonderful project manager. This partnership makes me feel even more excited about the future of Give STL Day!”