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2015 BIG DAY OF
GIVING GUIDE
An Overview for Participating Organizations
BIG Day of Giving: May 5, 2015
2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCTION/GOALS
2
ELIGIBILITY
2
REQUIREMENTS TO PARTICIPATE
3
REGISTRATION FEE
4
MARKETING THE DAY OF GIVING
4
INCENTIVE POOL
5
DONATION PROCESS
5
TECHNOLOGY
6
MARKETING
6
TIMELINE & CONTACT INFO
7-8
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2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide
INTRODUCTION
On Tuesday, May 5, 2015, starting at the stroke of midnight, the region will come together for the 2nd annual
BIG Day of Giving, an online 24-hour giving challenge. The event is brought to you by your local community
foundations: Sacramento Region Community Foundation, Placer Community Foundation, Yolo Community
Foundation, GiveLocalNow and many community partners.
In 2014, the BIG Day of Giving (BDOG) raised over $3 million from over 12,000 donors. It was an amazing
experience that we are very excited to not only replicate, but enhance by engagement more of our
community and celebrate the power of philanthropy and the incredible work and impact of our nonprofit
community.
The following guidebook of instructions is a step by step process showing how nonprofit organizations can
participate.
G OA L S
The overall goal for the Day of Giving is to increase the level of individual giving in our region! Here are
some targeted goals that collectively, we would like to achieve:
•
$5 Million in unrestricted dollars!
•
$500,000 incentive pool
•
Increase visibility for nonprofits and raise awareness
•
Raising the level of philanthropy
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible to participate organizations must:
 Have a nonprofit 501(c)3 status in good standing;
o Fiscal sponsorships are eligible
o Churches and schools are not eligible. Organizations that fall in this category that
participated last year will be grandfathered in.
 Have a minimum of three years active financial history and filed tax returns with the IRS.
 Reside and/or primarily serve one or all of the following counties: Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado,
Yolo
 Must have a Facebook account or be willing to create one prior to May 5th, 2015.
R E Q U I R M E N T S T O PA R T I C I PAT E
Every organization that would like to participate in the 2015 BIG Day of Giving must complete all
requirements by the deadlines listed. Signing up is a 4-step process.
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2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide
Step 3:
New NPOs
only:
Attend
GivingEdge
training
Step 1:
Attend
orientation
Step 2:
Complete
and submit
commitment
form by Oct
31st
Step 4:
Complete
GivingEdge
profile Returning
NPOs must
update
existing
profile by
deadlines
STEP 1: attend an orientation
 Orientations will take place on October and November 2014 only. All
organizations regardless if you have participated in the past, must attend an
orientation.
STEP 2: Complete and submit your commitment form
 You will receive a commitment form at the orientation. The form must be filled out
completely, signed and returned to the Sacramento Region Community Foundation
by the deadline given at your orientation. Deadlines for submitted your commitment
form are based on the date you attended an orientation.
 Team Captain: We ask that you choose one person as your designated main point
of contact with the organizers. This person will receive all important links and
information about training. It is this person’s responsibility to inform the rest of staff,
volunteers and board about all updates. Please enter this person’s information on
your commitment
STEP 3: For new NPOs only: You must register and attend a GivingEdge training.
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2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide
 After your orientation, an email will be sent to you to register. There are several
trainings to choose from. Trainings will take place in October and November 2014
only.
 Please send the person that you have designated to complete the profile. They are
the one that needs the training and will receive access to the system.
 Returning NPOs that wish to take a training as a refresher course may do so, but it
is not required.
STEP 4: COMPLETE and SUBMIT your GivingEdge Profile
 For NEW NPOs, you will be given a deadline at your training session.
 For Returning NPOs, you must update and submit your profile. A checklist of
required fields to update will be emailed to you after attending an orientation.
The deadlines for submitting your updated profile are as follows:
o If you attend an orientation in October, your updated profile must be
submitted for review by DECEMBER 5th.
o If you attend an orientation in November, your updated profile must be
submitted for review by JANUARY 8TH.
You will receive a confirmation email when all items have been completed. Please note
that your GivingEdge profile will take anywhere from 4 – 8 weeks to be reviewed and
published. You may be contacted to correct or update missing or incomplete information
by Community Foundation staff.
R E G I S T R AT I O N F E E
A registration fee is required for participation in the 2015 BIG Day of Giving. This is a nominal fee to help
offset the costs of organization and administrating the event and provide resources, trainings, graphics, etc.
for each participant to utilize in their campaigns. Fees are tiered based on your 2013 operation budgets.
2013 Operating Budget Size
Fee
$0 - $99,999
$50
$100,000 - $249,999
$100
$250,000 - $499,999
$150
$500,000 - $999,999
$200
$1 million and above
$250
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2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide
There are two options to pay and are listed on your commitment form.


Option #1 is to pay now when submitting your commitment form by credit card or check. Once you
attend an orientation, you will receive an email with a link to pay via credit card, if you opt for this
method.
Option #2 allows you pay your registration fee out of your BIG Day of Giving donation total. We
will deduct the fee from your check prior to sending. If you do not raise enough funds on May 5th to
cover your fee, we will contact you after the event for payment.
INCENTIVE POOL
The community foundation partners are committed to raising a pool of incentive dollars to help boost
donations and give each organization additional opportunities to win unrestricted funds! The incentive pool
will be divided into two buckets.
1. Incentive dollars: This is done through a pro-rated approach by taking the total amount of incentive
dollars and divide by the total raised on May 5, 2015.
Example: If the BIG Day of Giving raises $5 million and the incentive pool is $350,000, each dollar
donated will receive a boost of .07 cents.
So, if your organization raises $5,000, your total incentive dollars received would be $350 (5,000
x .07)
2. Prize Challenges: Funds from the incentive pool will also be used for prize challenges that will take
place throughout the day on May 5th. These are a fun and exciting way to earn additional funds for
your organization. A final list of challenges will be posted on bigdayofgiving.org by January, 2015.
D O N AT I O N P RO C E S S

All donations on May 5th, 2105 must be made through BIGDayofGiving.org to be counted in the totals
and be eligible for incentive dollars.

Each gift is 100% tax deductible. An email Tax receipt will be sent to the donor generally within a
few minutes of donating on the website, but please note it could take up to an hour depending on the
volume of donations. You do not need to send a tax receipt, but you do need to thank and
acknowledge your donors! Donors should remember to notify their credit card issuer if they plan to
make a large donation, as they may hold the transaction as per the fraud protection services.

A link to access your donor information will be emailed to your team captain at the end of April.
This link will download a spreadsheet in real time during the event and after the event. Donor
information will include all fields on the donation form, except credit card information. Please save
your link as the organizers will not be able to send to you during May 5th. Your link will remain
active until August 31st, 2015, at which time it will deactivate.

Credit card transactions on bigdayofgiving.org are secured with PCI Level 1 secure service provider
certification. This means you can rest assured that donor information will have the highest security
possible.
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2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide

The transaction fee for the BIG Day of Giving is comprised of 2.9% for payment vendor Kimbia and
3.3% credit card processing fee. These transaction fees are for these vendors only and no other
fees are taken or received by the organizers.

Participating organizations will receive a check that will include all donations (less fees), plus any
incentive dollars received no later than June 30th, 2015.
TECHNOLOGY

The giving portal for the BIG Day of Giving is optimized for mobile giving. The website is easily
accessible from a smart phone (iPhone, Android, etc.), making it easy for your donors to give on May
5th. Donors should be aware that data charges may apply and will not be reimbursed.

Your organization will receive a personalized link that will take donors directly to your donation page
on bigdayofgiving.org. (Example: http://bigdayofgiving.org/#npo/sacballet). While this link is
great to use for direct giving, we also encourage you to use the main URL www.bigdayofgiving.org.
Your personalized link will be sent to your team captain at the end of April. Your personalized
nonprofit donation page will have information such as your name, logo, mission statement, social
media links and a link to your GivingEdge profile, should donors want to learn more about your
organization.

Team captains will be invited to attend a training in April on how to navigate the bigdayofgiving.org
website. We will also go over how to use your donor data link and other technology questions.

Bigdayofigiving.org provides donors the ability to search by name, category or scroll a list of
nonprofits on the leaderboard that can be sorted by alpha, or by total raised!
MARKETING
To maximize donor contributions on the BIG Day of Giving each participating organization must market
themselves individually by notifying and engaging past and potential donors with a strong marketing
strategy. It is up to you to notify your donors and compel them to give to your organization on the BIG Day
of Giving.
Examples of how to inspire potential donors to participate include (but are not limited to):
1. BE CREATIVE: Don’t overthink, maximize social media, be super persistent and enlist your board and
volunteers.
2. SOCIAL MEDIA: Use a local blogger or a friend to blog for you; an outside view often offers a new
way of asking for the donation. Use personal and friends’ networks to spread the word. Use local
celebrities to help spread the word; ask to re-tweet (RT). Use social media to thank your donors
during and after the BIG Day of Giving.
3. USE WHAT YOU HAVE: Keep your marketing expenses low by using what you already do to
promote your participation.
 Add a footer to your emails.
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2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide
 Use your signage or ads or press for your events to include a mention of your participation.
 Word of mouth is key to success.
4. BE MISSION-FOCUSED: Rather than talk about your organization all day, talk about what you do
and why you do it. Pick a compelling story that exemplifies your work. Use testimonials from your
constituents and donors.
5. TARGETED E-BLASTS
6. COORDINATE YOUR EXISITING FUNDRAISING EVENT WITH THE DAY OF GIVING
The BIG Day of Giving management team will also provide marketing and media for the BIG Day of Giving
leading up to and on the day of the event.
 Social media
 Print and media advertising leading up to and on the day of the event.
 Official BDOG events in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties.
 Provide nonprofit marketing toolkit
NONPROFIT MARKETING TOOLKIT
The toolkit will become available in December 2014. It will include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
BIG Day of Giving graphics: Logos, banners, mastheads in multiple formats
Social media graphics, resources, sample posts, hashtags, etc.
PPT for presentations to board and other stakeholders
Sample press release
Sample emails and letters to donors
Bootcamp materials (provided in February)
TIMELINE
October – November 2014
 Orientations
 GivingEdge trainings
 GivingTuesday
December 2014 – January 2015
 Deadlines for GivingEdge profile
 Nonprofit marketing toolkit becomes available
February – March
 Bootcamps
 Soft marketing begins
 Pre-Dog Challenges
April 2015

BIG DoG media spots begin
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2015 BIG Day of Giving Guide



BIGdayofgiving.org website training
Receive your personalized URL (bigdayofgiving.org/placerspca)
Receive your donor data link
May 2015


May 5th!
Post event processing begins
June 2015

Checks received within 45 days
July 2015

Report to the Community event
INQUIRIES
Please direct all questions to [email protected] - Phone calls will be redirected and you will be asked
to send your questions to the bigdog email address. Please allow a minimum of 48 hours for a response. If
you did not find the answer to your question in this guide, you may also check out the FAQ page on the
bigdayofigivng.org website and on givelocalnow.org
If you are a nonprofit located in Placer County, you may contact the Placer Community Foundation for
additional support at [email protected]
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