Charities go high-tech to make giving easier

If charitable donations are an indication of the economy, then this holiday season offers a small bit of cheer: Area charities say people are giving more now than they were 12 months ago.

Still, it’s not as if people are clamoring to hand over their cash. Nonprofits these days are trying as never before to convince potential donors that giving beats receiving.

Employing online auctions, text messages, iPhone apps and even credit-card swipers at the Salvation Army kettle, some charities are making it easier than ever to give.

“It’s kind of trite to say it, but it can’t be business as usual anymore,” said Maj. James Seiler, who heads the Atlanta region of the Salvation Army, which has embraced text-messaging and other fund-raising efforts this year. “There’s a younger generation we have to reach out to.”

Other charities are simply working harder than ever to keep donations coming in.

“We see positive signs,” said Laura Johnson, a spokesperson for the Atlanta-area chapter of the March of Dimes, which fights childhood diseases. “But we’re not completely out of the woods.”

Those woods may be thinning, though, said economics professor James Russell. If people or corporate donors are giving more now, it’s likely their economic fortunes began improving months earlier, said Russell, a former University of Georgia professor now at Texas Tech University.

“Ultimately, [donations] are tied to available resources,” said Russell. Enhanced fund-raising, he said, “is a positive sign.”

Auctions and apps

The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, which hopes to raise $80.2 million through individual and corporate donations this year, recently announced “Gift Back: An Online Auction.” It marks the charity’s first foray into online giving, said David Graves, the organization’s director of media and marketing. Bidders log on to unitedwayatlanta.org and click on the auction site. The auction ends at 10 p.m. Monday.

The inspiration for the fund-raiser, he said, came from a ubiquitous online auction site.

“We have our own eBay,” he said.

The auction features tickets to the Super Bowl, as well as to the Tony and Emmy Awards ceremonies. Other items include a peach paperweight from 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, a Falcons jersey signed by quarterback Matt Ryan and two first-class airline tickets from Delta Air Lines.

If the auction is a success, said Graves, United Way, which serves 13 metro-area counties, will do it again. “It’s just a different way for us to look at raising money,” he said.

The venerable Salvation Army, founded more than 150 years ago, has embraced modern fund-raising as never before. In Atlanta and elsewhere, the nonprofit is relying on text messages, credit card devices and cell phone apps to raise money. It has even gone high-tech with its most low-tech, and renowned, fund-raising tactic: the seasonal red kettles manned by bell-ringers since the late 1800s.

Last year, kettles throughout metro Atlanta raised $1.9 million, according to statistics. This year, officials hope to collect $2.1 million.

For some years, now, bell-ringers at a few selected locations have used credit-card swipers for donors. This season, more than 30 locations in the metro area have the card swipers.

The kettles have gone digital, too. On Nov. 1, the local chapter launched its Virtual Red Kettle Campaign, accessible online at www.salvationarmyatlanta.org. Also, for the first time, a digital musical firm is offering a “Salvation Army Christmas Music” iPhone app for $2.99 — $1 of which will be donated to the Red Kettle Campaign.

Finally, the Salvation Army is accepting text donations. Donors can give $10 by texting the word “give” on their cell phones to 85944.

“We’re hopeful” the new appeals for money will work, said the Salvation Army’s Seiler, who oversees a 13-county region. “Everything we’re trying to do is to maximize our effectiveness.”

Need is up, too

While donations may be up, say area charities, so are requests for help.

No one knows this better, perhaps, than Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The nonprofit, which helps feed hungry families in 38 North Georgia counties, estimates the demand for food is up 30 percent from last year. That equates to about 70,000 people a month.

He is not sure donations will keep up with the demand. The food bank’s target budget this year is $10.5 million.

At present, “It appears we are holding our own,” he said.

Joseph Krygiel, CEO of Catholic Charities of Atlanta, estimated that requests for aid to the charity have doubled from a year earlier.

“We’re having to cast our net a little wider” for donations, he said.

The charity’s biggest push for donations takes place Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The collections fund nearly half the program’s $1.2 million budget. Last year, the charity raised abut $550,000 in less than two days; this year, said Krygiel, the organization would like to match that.

“I’m hopeful,” said Krygiel. “Let’s just say that.”

Surprise growth

A few nonprofits, such as the YWCA of Northwest Georgia, say they are doing better than holding their own. The Y last year launched a $7 million campaign to renovate its downtown Marietta headquarters, as well as expand its shelter for domestic-violence victims in Cobb, Cherokee and Paulding counties.

It’s going better than CEO Holly Comer expected. A March fund-raiser broke all records, generating $137,000 — about 33 percent more than the previous year.