An Interview with Jodina Hicks, Executive Director, UrbanPromise

I believe it was successful in part because people are very generous at Christmas, but also because these particular donors (partners) know our kids well and had an immediate response to help. Most of our help was given within 48 hours of the e-mail request. We also executed the spending immediately and gave the donors immediate feedback (before Christmas) as to how their dollars were used.

FS: Any major difficulties or setbacks you've faced along the way? Things you would do differently with your fundraising?
JH: One cautionary aspect that happened was after a major media event, short-term givers spiked and overinflated the organization's budget. It was difficult to assess the percentage of donors that would continue giving, and the drop-off was much higher than any other giving scenario the organization had experienced.