Long Beach Gives reaches goal, tops $2 million in donations for city’s nonprofits

Long Beach Gives did it: The annual event to raise money for local nonprofits topped its 2021 goal of $2 million — though it took a bit longer than 24 hours.

The third annual web-based, citywide fundraiser, which included 203 nonprofits this year, extended its 24-hour giving campaign by 10 hours (as it does every year), from the end of Thursday, Sept. 23, to Friday morning. Yet, when the calculator stopped shortly after 10 a.m. Friday, the Long Beach Gives total was still short of its goal — albeit it barely — with $1,952,310 tallied.

But a couple of hours of financial reconciliation later, and the addition of offline donations, the goal had been met, said Michelle Byerly, Long Beach Gives cofounder and CEO of The Nonprofit Partnership.

The website ticker showed $2,027,310 raised from 9,522 donors as of noon Friday.

“The organizations did a fabulous job,” said Julie Meenan, another Long Beach Gives cofounder and executive director of the Josephine S. Gumbiner Foundation. “When you consider the state of the economy, the pandemic and all, even coming close is a great accomplishment.”

The Long Beach Gives group has developed a website, which features individual donation pages for each charity, allowing a one-stop shop for people looking to dole out cash to worthy causes. The group, as part of the lead-up to giving day, also trains nonprofits on how to conduct public relations campaigns.

Long Beach Gives raised $1.7 million for 156 charities last year, surpassing its 2020 goal — despite the coronavirus pandemic. While the pandemic has eased since then, it is far from over and once again impacted some of the social media and fundraising training, Meenan said.

“We had 71 nonprofits who were doing this for the first time,” Meenan said of this year’s giving day. “Early on, all our training had to be virtual, and that was tough. The sense of community we rely on wasn’t really there. You could tell the difference Monday (at the in-person kickoff event). There was excitement in the air.”

While some nonprofits called the period from midnight to 10 a.m. Friday “extended giving,” Meenan said, the 10 hours has always been in place to reconcile donations — although added donations aren’t turned away. Campaign director Nicolassa “Niko” Galvez said some nonprofits did extremely well, judging from their emails.

“A lot of them are very happy with the response,” Galvez said. “Some of the smaller ones said they weren’t very tech-savvy, and were happy and surprised with the result.”

The Historical Society of Long Beach is strong in the technical arena. Still, topping the group’s $10,000 goal was a big thing, Executive Director Julie Bartolotto said, and there are additional benefits.

“Long Beach Gives sheds light on the work of the Historical Society of Long Beach and nonprofits that serve the city,” she said in an email. “Giving day motivates new donors or followers on social media to give. Raising unrestricted operating funds is important — it pays payroll for one period, or helps towards necessities like utilities and insurance.”

The Guidance Center, which provides mental health counseling to youngsters and families, set a $25,000 goal for a specific purpose — the Client COVID19 Relief Fund. The center more than doubled that goal, raising $56,426.

“Having this dedicated day of giving has been especially meaningful to us, given this year when so many of our clients and their families continue to be impacted by the pandemic,” Guidance Center CEO Patricia Costales said. “The outpouring of support speaks to the generosity and kindness of the Long Beach community.”

Connections made during the campaign are an ongoing benefit as well, Meenan said.

“Those unique individual donors are gold for the nonprofits,” she said. “They learn about the groups, stay engaged and become key to a sustainable future.”