Communications Lessons from Black Philanthropy Month

August 25, 2023

By: Peter Panepento

Building awareness and raising money is difficult work.
 
It’s even more difficult during the month of August, when many of the people you are trying to reach are at the beach, preparing for the start of the school year, or otherwise tuned out.
 
But that hasn’t stopped Central Carolina Community Foundation from launching and building a successful local Give 8/28 Day fundraising and awareness campaign in conjunction with Black Philanthropy Month.
 
Black Philanthropy Month, observed every August, is a national, coordinated effort to celebrate Black giving.
 
Give 8/28 Day is a corresponding national day of giving to support Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofits. Give 8/28 day falls annually on Aug. 28 — a date that serves as the anniversary of several seminal events in Black history in the U.S., including the murder of Emmett Till and Martin Luther King Jr.’s delivery of his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C.
 
Central Carolina Community Foundation — which serves an 11-county region of South Carolina called the Midlands — launched its first Give 8/28 Day in 2018 to help increase its number of Black donors and to forge stronger connections with nonprofits in its community.
 
The annual day of giving has grown steadily each year — building momentum and adding new partners as it has evolved. During its first year, the effort raised money for 40 Black-led or Black-benefiting nonprofits. That number has quadrupled in the 5 years since — with 160 nonprofits taking part.
 
This year, the foundation has also attracted its first corporate sponsors for the effort, including a Black-led bank, and it expects to engage more donors than ever before.
 
Communications has played a central role in its growth. The foundation has partnered with a storytelling agency, As Told By, to develop videos and has augmented its storytelling with a thoughtful social media and media relations strategy that engages potential partners and donors across its 11-county footprint.
 
It is also tapping relationships with local churches, NAACP chapters, and board members to reach donors and community partners where they are.
 
I recently had a chance to hear from three of the architects of CCCF’s Give 8/28 Day campaign — Vice President of Community Investment Erin Johnson, Community Investment Associate Shantrell Mitchell, and Communications Specialist Aliyah Scott — to learn more about their strategy.

Here is their advice for organizations that are looking to build stronger connections with donors and nonprofits during Black Philanthropy Month:
 
Have patience
If your organization does not have an established track record of working closely with Black donors and Black-led nonprofits, it is important to move slowly to build trust.
 
“When we started, we said ‘we’re going to take this slow because we don’t want to get it wrong,” Johnson said. “So we really started out with building our networks and building those relationships.”
 
Of course, this takes time. As a result, it’s important to set modest goals at first and have a clear understanding internally that the return on investment may be low at first.
 
Be clear
CCCF’s Give 8/28 campaign is a companion to the foundation’s longstanding giving day campaign, Midland Gives. But while the foundation uses the same technology and some of the same communications tactics to promote Give 8/28, its team is deliberate to make sure it has a distinct brand, call-to-action, and message.
 
It is also intentional in saying that it is for Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofits — and has set clear definitions for what it means for a nonprofit to fit either of those qualifiers.
 
“Being intentional has opened the door for people to say “Oh, you’re actually trying to serve me and my community,’ Johnson said. “Our phone rings a lot more now throughout the year from nonprofits that typically do not reach out to us because they didn’t think we were accessible before.”
 
Think about the bigger picture
While many organizations measure the success of a campaign or initiative by audience size or dollars raised, efforts like Give 8/28 are about more than attracting eyeballs or raising money.
 
For community-focused organizations like CCCF, it is critical to advancing its mission.
 
After all, you cannot truly serve and support a community unless you are serving and supporting everyone in that community.
 
For many longstanding organizations, that cannot truly happen unless they take deliberate steps to invite in those who have previously felt excluded or disconnected from their work.
 
CCCF’s Give 8/28 offers one potential roadmap for getting there.
 
More Black Philanthropy Month Examples
We’ve been excited to work with the Cleveland Foundation and Fairfield County’s Community Foundation to raise awareness about Black Philanthropy Month.
 
The Cleveland Foundation has been spotlighting the work of its African-American Philanthropy Committee, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
 
The Committee, which earned national headlines this month in Essence Magazine, has raised and granted millions to support nonprofits in Cleveland and has been showcased the deep tradition of philanthropy among Black Clevelanders.
 
In Connecticut, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation has been elevating the stories of Black donors on its blog throughout the month. The Foundation’s CEO, Mendi Blue Paca, also penned a heartfelt opinion piece about the history and power of Black philanthropy that appeared in newspapers statewide.
 
Both offer excellent examples of how to leverage awareness months to advance your mission.