NEW ORLEANS – Organizers of the annual GiveNOLA Day, scheduled for June 2, are hoping that the generosity of New Orleans organizations and individuals will help nonprofits through the tough times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 24-hour event is hosted by the Greater New Orleans Foundation to “inspire people to give generously to nonprofits making our region stronger, creating a thriving community for all.” Participants can visit the GiveNOLA website and browse through a list of organizations in need of support.
“This is the seventh year for Entergy to sponsor Give NOLA Day and we have been thrilled every year to see the results because it has become a huge driver of philanthropy in our city,” said Patty Riddlebarger, Entergy’s VP of Corporate Social Responsibility. “If you look at New Orleans’ results compared to other cities on a per capita basis, the citizens have been tremendously generous.”
Riddlebarger said nonprofits now bank on this day as a key driver of support. Many are able to get their larger donors to put up matching funds to encourage smaller donors to participate. They count on donations from foundations and corporations as well as individuals.
The 2020 event, of course, is happening during a moment of crisis.
“This year is more important than ever because of the impact of COVID-19 on New Orleans,” said Riddlebarger. “So many nonprofits rely on events and fundraisers but those are all now cancelled. Now they are all having to scramble to raise money at a time when needs for funds are the greatest they’ve been since Katrina. It’s an important time for the community to come together and show support.”
Since so many physical fundraising events have been cancelled, there should be plenty of money saved up to donate, right? Riddlebarger said it’s not that simple.
“In general that would be the case but there are a lot of companies and individuals who are having economic hardships as a result of COVID,” she said. “They may not be in a position to give at the same level that they used to give so that’s another challenge facing nonprofits. The Entergy foundation has a rainy day fund that we can tap into and it allows us to sustain the same level of giving despite the fact that our company has been hit pretty significantly from COVID but not all organizations have that. And when you’re talking about corporate foundations, they are few and far between particularly in New Orleans.”
Entergy is the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in the city. Telecom giant CenturyLink, based in Monroe, is the only other one in the state.
“By comparison, I was recently at a philanthropy conference in Detroit and they have nine or 10 fortune 500 companies,” said Riddlebarger. “Ford, GM, Kellog … They have deep, deep corporate pockets that New Orleans doesn’t have and so that’s a challenge for the community for sure.
To make up for the lack of major corporate funds, local nonprofits rely on a blend of support from smaller corporations, individuals and national groups. Riddlebarger hopes June 2 will be another historic day of donations.
“Last year, GiveNOLA raised nearly $6 million, which makes it the single largest day of giving in the city,” she said. “There’s a lot of good that comes out of this particular day. Since the need is greater than ever, I’m hoping this is going to be the biggest GiveNOLA Day in terms of number of givers, which shows the breadth of community support, and in terms of total dollars given because the community needs it.”
Click here to donate now or get more information.