Give the widespread usage of technology in every facet of our lives, it’s not surprising that individuals across the United States supported the online movement, #GivingTuesday, in record amounts last fall. On December 3, 2019, individuals supported a variety of charitable causes with more than 4 million gifts totaling roughly $510 million. This amount represented a 28% increase from the amount given during the 2018 #GivingTuesday campaign.

Given the growing need by nonprofits working to address the COVID-19 pandemic, #GivingTuesday organizers are urging individuals and nonprofits to rally together to support their local communities’ efforts to address the impact of the coronavirus. On Tuesday, May 5, 2020, a new online campaign will attempt to drive global generosity, civic engagement, business and foundation action to support nonprofits all over the world working to slow the impact of coronavirus. #GivingTuesdayNow is an opportunity when individuals can come together and give back in any way they can, no matter who or where they are.

The #GivingTuesdayNow campaign is being organized by a global network of nonprofit leaders, business partners, and generous individuals, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, PayPal and NBC/MSNBC serving as the signature media partner. #GivingTuesdayNow is similar in form and function to the late Fall appeal, but now there is an even greater sense of urgency to support our community and social services.

How can individuals help? On May 5, individuals are encouraged to participate in the effort using whatever means they can and to use social media to spread their participation and recognize others using the #GivingTuesdayNow hashtag to create a global feeling of unity and support. Organizers of the effort offer several opportunities to participate including donating to nonprofits in their communities working to help ease the suffering of millions affected by COVID-19, supporting local small businesses—especially those that may be able to donate products or services to nonprofits on the front lines of the pandemic, and demonstrations of gratitude to healthcare workers, service providers, and other essential workers who risk their own health on a daily basis.

What should nonprofits do? Given the urgency of the situation, using social media to reach your audiences helps you communicate key information quickly, create a sense of urgency, and share your updates to people in and out of your traditional networks. Before #GivingTuesdayNow begins, nonprofits must take some time to plan through their efforts to reach out to donors, volunteers, advocates, and social media followers.

As soon as possible, nonprofits need to sketch out the draft of their #GivingTuesdayNow plans, including developing the storyline or theme for their messaging. An organizational plan doesn’t need to be overly detailed given the urgent need and short turnaround time, but nonprofits should think through how this storyline will be woven into messages across multiple channels, including your website, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media channels used by the nonprofit.

Storytelling and Planning. Your story may focus on your organization’s heroes, the impact of your programs and services, or those you are serving during this pandemic. Whatever its focus, organizations need to be consistent with messaging throughout the day and use the different channels to build a story. Sending out one message on #GivingTuesdayNow will not work neither will sending a similar message through all of your channels.

You need to entice your supporters to want to learn more and seek out your updates among the many that they’re going to receive from other worthy causes. It may help to draft your #GivingTuesdayNow messages all at once so that you can see the natural progression of your messaging across channels and throughout the day. Your updates should be spread out across the day. Start with strong messaging that ends with a “donate now” option and follow that throughout the day with informational updates that further your storyline.

Recruit organizational supporters! #GivingTuesdayNow efforts will succeed only if you get others to tell your story. Whether you’re the nonprofit executive director, marketer, or fundraiser, you cannot do the work alone. You simply do not have the vast network needed to reach the numbers necessary to see a huge impact on your efforts. But, your online supporters do! Tapping into your most active volunteers and loyal donors and asking them for help will result in your #GivingTuesdayNow updates being seen by more people when they add their own thoughts and words of encouragement to your shared posts and forwarded emails.

#GivingTuesdayNow should not be a replication of your #GivingTuesday efforts. We are in an unprecedented time of need and urgency, and your messages should accurately reflect your organization’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 virus. With a well-developed storyline and messages customized to tap into the personality of each platform, nonprofits will not only be able to succeed in educational efforts and fundraising but also be able to reach out to their local communities with words of gratitude for those on the frontline and words of encouragement for everyone whose lives have been upended by the coronavirus.

In times of crisis we rediscover the importance of community solidarity, volunteering and philanthropy to help those in most urgent need. The nonprofit-social sector does this all the time, but in emergencies our people and organizations are on the front line in partnership with government agencies, the private sector and shoulder to shoulder to our communities in need. For those of you who are local to the San Francisco Bay and California, follow these links to volunteer and/or donate.

CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEER RESOURCES

Help your community safely with COVID-19. Every Californian can safely help their community during these difficult times. Here are some ways you can make a difference. https://californiavolunteers.ca.gov/get-involved/covid-19/

CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO

Give to the City of San Francisco to respond to COVID-19: Make a tax deductible donation to Give2SF COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund https://sf.gov/give-city-respond-covid-19

SAN FRANCISCO-MARIN FOOD BANK

Give to the San Francisco & Marin Food Bank: Help families during the COVID-19 crisis. Every $1 provides 2 meals. https://www.sfmfoodbank.org/

UCSF BENIOFF CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

The whole UCSF community is working hard to ensure that we continue to provide the best care to those who need it and the best solutions to this global pandemic. Below are several ways that you can support our efforts during this critical time. https://coronavirus.ucsf.edu/help

CDC FOUNDATION

The CDC Foundation launched a crowdfunding campaign aimed at raising hundreds of millions dollars needed to bolster public health response efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.give4cdcf.org/

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

The World Health Organization (WHO) is leading and coordinating the global effort, supporting countries to prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic. Everyone can now support directly the response coordinated by WHO. People and organizations who want to help fight the pandemic and support WHO and partners can now donate through the COVID-Solidarity Response Fund for WHO at www.COVID19ResponseFund.org.

IGNATIAN SOLIDARITY NETWORK

Coronavirus has created a time of uncertainty, fear, isolation, and illness. But our faith teaches us that there is light in the darkness. As the Jesuit and broader Catholic network responds in unique ways with love, compassion, and new means of building community, ISN will compile them in this space. https://ignatiansolidarity.net/coronavirus-covid-19-solidarity-resources/

USF-MNA SPOTLIGHT

We are grateful to our many MNA alumni and friends who work in healthcare and other essential human services in this time of emergency. Here are few of our MNA students, alumni and friends/advisors we honor for their example. Like other brave health and human service providers, they do their part to prevent and contain pandemics and assist others in critical care.

Dr. Carol Pertowski, MNA ’19

Carol Pertowski is a public health physician and medical epidemiologist with 25 years of experience. Her background includes an undergraduate degree in public health, a medical degree, and an Internal Medicine residency. After completing Epidemic Intelligence Service training and a Preventive Medicine residency at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Carol joined the CDC staff and worked on outbreak investigations, policy development, environmental health, disease tracking, public health preparedness and response, and communications in the United States and abroad. Her experience includes leading multidisciplinary teams to achieve program goals, leading discussions among groups with different priorities to identify common areas of interest and joint work, and sustaining working relationships in difficult circumstance. Carol has organized complex projects keeping diverse staff focused on critical issues to deliver products on time and within budget. She is an experienced public speaker, writer, and editor. She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and is licensed to practice medicine in California. She completed the Master of Nonprofit Administration at the University of San Francisco in 2019 with a capstone on the CDC Foundation.

Samuel Nelson, CCRN, MNA (May ’20)

Samuel Nelson is a Critical Care Registered Nurse at San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. He is also Director of Rowing and Head coach of men’s rowing at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. While currently exploring his passion for Jesuit rowing practices in education he recognizes his responsibility to contribute as health practitioner in this time of emergency and needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He is is completing his graduate MNA degree while serving as Director and Coach. He previously served as Critical Care Registered Nurse at the US Department of Veteran Affairs.

Dr. Michael Anderson, MD, MBA, FAAP

Dr. Mike Anderson is the President of University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Children’s Hospitals. He is a well-known pediatrician and competent administrator with expertise in emergency management for children. He was appointed by President G.W. Bush as Vice-Chair and by President Obama as Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Disaster Medical System. He is a Scholar in Residence for the MNA Program and a dear friend/advisor for University of San Francisco’s School of Management. Learn about his medical and administrative expertise in relation to COVID-19 here.