The seventh annual Giving Tuesday has come and gone. How did the nonprofit sector do?

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that $380 million was raised for charitable causes from 4 million people on Nov. 27, 2018.

Facebook said Wednesday that its users donated over $125 million to on-site fundraisers on the day, compared to about $45 million donated on 2017’s Giving Tuesday. The media company and Paypal had pledged to match $7 million in donations made on the site; it hit the goal by 9:05 a.m. (Last year’s $2 million was gone by mid-morning.)

Fort Washington-based donor management B2B company DonorPerfect, which released a Giving Tuesday resources guide before the holiday, saw an increase, too. VP of Fundraising Products Jon Biedermann said 3,367 of its roughly 10,000 international nonprofit clients participated this year.

That’s 27 percent more than in 2017 — but, “honestly,” he said, DonorPerfect also saw about that much of an increase in its client load from last year, so the growth can’t be attributed to heightened interest Giving Tuesday, specifically, for certain.

Overall, DonorPerfect clients raised over $35 million. Gifts ranged from $1.4 million to $4.

Biedermann spent the day at Giving Tuesday headquarters: 92nd Street Y in New York City, where the event was founded in 2012. Screens showed real-time data visualizations for social media impressions (12.5 billion total) and original social media posts (600,000 total) about the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9mZfHGbWUo

Is Giving Tuesday the biggest fundraising day of DonorPerfect’s year? Biedermann said for the past three years or so, it’s been number two — first is always Dec. 31, thanks to the flurry of end-of-year appeals.

But “we do not know what’s going to happen this year,” he said, thanks to the passage of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: The new tax law, signed on Dec. 22, 2017, could deliver a financial bruising to nonprofits, though the full affects of that change will be determined at the end of this year. Check out some resources on how the law impacts nonprofits from the National Council of Nonprofits here.

But back to Giving Tuesday: Locally, we saw dozens of nonprofits push day-specific fundraising appeals — and lots of celebrations of success, too.

Support Center for Child Advocates (SCCA)was one. Back in May, Communications Associate Tracy Buchholz presented a case study of how her nonprofit was able to drastically up its 2017 Giving Tuesday earnings at Generocity’s Tech in the Commons session on social media for action. The big lessons then:

What helped @PhillyAdvoKid double their #GivingTuesdayPHL goal in 2017?

🔑 planning goals and outreach (press and vlogger placement)
😴 avoiding donor fatigue by spacing asks
📯 specific micro campaigns, including a midday email showing their already success #TechCommonsPHL pic.twitter.com/AeRjHgGBsm

— Generocity (@Generocity) May 8, 2018

This time around, Buchholz wrote in an email on Wednesday, the nonprofit raised over $23,000 from 86 donors. How? Matches from 15 board members for a total of $4,300, plus lots of media coverage and appearances by local politicians, including State Rep. Brian Sims, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Mayor Jim Kenney, at its concurrent toy drive.

“I also invited Gritty but he never got back to us (true story),” Buchholz said.

Most large gifts came via email — and indeed, Biedermann said email asks are generally 30 times more effective than social media asks. SCCA staffers were also more active in sharing news of the campaign and event.

Next year, Buchholz said, she hopes the nonprofit will reach out to more young people to give, even at small amounts: “A small donation is better than no donation. Unless you’re giving your time to volunteer. That’s just priceless.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Your donations will help change the story for children in need. pic.twitter.com/wkquqBSBLF

— Child Advocates (@PhillyAdvoKid) November 28, 2018

Here’s how a handful of other Greater Philadelphia-based nonprofits made out on Tuesday:

Playworks PA

@Generocity #GivingTuesday was a huge success. Generous donors and board members pledged $7500 and we matched that plus some (total=$17,330).🤗

— Playworks PA (@PlayworksPA) November 28, 2018

Community Volunteers in Medicine

#GivingTuesday helped us reach new supporters and spread awareness about our Non-Opioid Pain Management program, raising $1000+. We also celebrated some of the most #giving women in Philly philanthropy, presenting @Impact100Philly with our Pillar Award. What a day! @Generocity pic.twitter.com/BGfXut1IE2

— CVIM (@CVIMWestChester) November 28, 2018

Red Paw Emergency Relief Team

We raised around $7000 on #GivingTuesday, which was better than last year. Donor feedback: FB donate app on posts makes donating very easy. PayPal fees are bad.

— Red wash your Paws Relief Team (@RedPawRelief) November 29, 2018

City Year Philadelphia

Total funds raised: $6,716. City Year Philly's most successful #GivingTuesday campaign to date, with the highest amount of funds raised and a record number of individual donations!

— CityYearPhilly (@CityYearPhilly) November 28, 2018

Episcopal Community Services of Philadelphia

(1/3) We’re still beaming w/ #GivingTuesday joy. Our community spread so much positivity, pay-it-forward-style. The campaign was a success because everybody could get behind it. We wanted to make sure our campaign was inclusive. And it was…

— ECS Philadelphia (@ECSPhilly) November 29, 2018

Fund for the School District of Philadelphia

A warm THANK YOU to EVERYONE who supported @phlschools children on #GivingTuesday! You donated $3289 to #FundPHLschools. Keep SINGING🎶, LAUGHING🤣, & making MERRY 💫 music together. Also encourage others to give—we accept gifts on behalf of Philadelphia children all year long. pic.twitter.com/wCSsiUY4qh

— The Fund for the SDP (@fundPHLschools) November 28, 2018

Lutheran Settlement House

We raised $8,200 thanks to a generous board match! Donors said they liked seeing an invested board!

— Lutheran Settlement House (@LSHphilly) November 29, 2018

Sister Cities Girlchoir

Yes! We're still looking for $160 to make the goal… https://t.co/She2aGAdDZ

— Justice Choir (@JusticeChoirALL) November 29, 2018

First Up

The early education training nonprofit reported raising $1,721, which will support its new Phyllis Kohn Scholarship Fund.

“Thanks to you,” reads an email to subscribers, “early childhood educators in Southeastern PA will have the opportunity to participate in professional development opportunities such as First Up’s 2019 Annual Conference from March 1-2, Equity Starts Early. Your donations will help First Up make our event accessible and inclusive for all professionals in the field, regardless of financial need.”