We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caitlynn Douglas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Caitlynn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I have worked on has been 401Gives. 401Gives is an online fundraising campaign, happening on April 1st (homage to our 401 area code) designed to uplift the Rhode Island nonprofit sector and maintain a culture of philanthropy in Rhode Island. In RI, the nonprofit sector accounts for between 16%-17% of the workforce (that’s around 1 in 6) with over 3,000 registered 501c(3)’s. Nonprofits also generate 13 billion dollars in revenue! Our nonprofit sector fosters civic engagement and leadership, drive economic growth, and strengthens the fabric of our communities. They also are usually the first to respond to disasters and epidemics, take care our elders, shelter our pets, and everything else in-between — often going above and beyond to serve all members of all communities. 401Gives seeks to give those nonprofits access to an online fundraising campaign that they can shine in and be centered in.
401Gives was also born in the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The planning phases started in 2019 and the first giving day was scheduled for 4/1/2020 which was also when the world shutdown. UWRI had a choice to make — do we still ask folks to donate? While they were pondering that, they were also seeing all of the galas, board mixers, golf tournaments — all the ways that nonprofits earn critical funds — being cancelled. UWRI decided to rely on the community and move forward with 401Gives! In the first year 401Gives brought in $1.3 million dollars for 366 nonprofits. In its most recent year, in 2023, 401Gives raised $3.4 million dollars for 546 nonprofits. In 2024, our goal is $4 million for 600 nonprofits!
I think there is a lot of joy missing in the world right now. There is of course always beauty in the small things but finding space for hope and acts of joy can be tough. 401Gives opens an opportunity for those who want to invest in change-making, who want to give back, who want to enact joy in their life and the lives of others. 401Gives is also the power of community. The saying goes that “it takes a village” and that same thing is true of the nonprofit sector. It not only takes the nonprofit sector to support our communities but also takes the communities thanking and giving back to the ones who are serving them. That is the magic that we see with 401Gives.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
During 2022, I was in my last year at Rhode Island College, studying to be a high school English teacher. Even though it was a dream I had had for so long, through the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was now a dream that felt like a distant memory. The landscape of education professions had shifted so much, that it was now feeling like a career I was no longer familiar with. In April of 2022, I decided to put myself first and be honest that I did not want to be a teacher anymore; especially since I had an entire graduating class around me that was much more passionate and ready to brave the classroom than I ever would be. In doing so, I dropped my Secondary Education focus and just so happened to be finishing up my final classes to earn my Bachelors in English and then walk the stage just a month later. I graduated from Rhode Island College in May of 2022 just little differently than I had predicted.
I was now able to pursue my new interests but the only problem was that I didn’t know what those new interests were. I had spent so long studying something that now no longer was an option, that I wasn’t sure what my next move was going to be. One thing that I did realize, was that one theme stayed constant through my life and through my studies, I wanted to be a changemaker. I wanted to leave the world better than I found it.
Through my years at college, I also was the assistant coach on an 18u travel softball team. I had played travel softball for 10 years of my life and when I aged out at 18, coaching just naturally felt like the next step. If there is one that is guaranteed in volunteering with any sports organization, it’s that you are going to have to do some fundraising! This is where I fell in love with fundraising. We would put on small annual events for the softball team and getting to turn donor dollars into opportunities for the youth I was serving brought me so much joy. I also liked the scope of fundraising. I enjoyed making asks, assessing donor capacity, collecting in-kind gifts — all of it was so exciting.
At the same time that I was trying to asses my relationship with a teaching career and my new found love of fundraising, my partner was also graduating from Rhode Island College (we got to walk the stage together!) and entering the workforce. In doing so, she found a position at a domestic violence agency where she takes part in ensuring that members of the community get to live a life free of abuse. I got to experience, for the first time, the hard work that a nonprofit does the community it serves and I felt for the first time what my new interest could be. That is when I found 401Gives.
I became aware of 401Gives in May of 2022. I was looking for ways to combine my new love of fundraising and my new appreciation for the nonprofit sector, with that same driving force of wanting to be a change-maker. When I found out about the program, I zeroed in on it and I told everyone that that was the career I wanted. I wanted to run the 401Gives program. I talked about this for months, and then in August of 2022 the position became available! I interviewed for it and by October of 2022, I sitting at my desk about to embark on my dream job! I was about to be a change-maker!
The 401Gives campaign runs over a period of time (around 24-36 hours) and through donor stewardship of their audiences, nonprofits earn funds from donors. The initiative is powered by United Way of Rhode Island and through UWRI, sponsors are secured to give out Matching dollars and Prize dollars. On certain hours of the day, donor dollars have the opportunity to be matched, doubling their donation and doubling their impact. There are also prize hours where nonprofits have the opportunities to win extra funds (usually extra gifts between $250-$1,000). We also use this as an opportunity uplift small and micro sized nonprofits as well as BIPOC focused and BIPOC led organizations. We always place an equity lens over everything that we do at United Way of Rhode Island and more specifically with 401Gives!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I love making other people’s day brighter and better than before. There are a lot nonprofits that are run by very small groups of people who often have an entire day job, on top of the nonprofit they are running. When I can introduce 401Gives to someone and show them the opportunities and resources available to them, it often re-ignites the fire in them that led them to their nonprofits initial cause. I also really enjoy helping people, even if it’s as simple as getting someone registered for the giving day or giving them a resource to answer a question. I love making people feel like they are not alone in this work and that they have a community to support them. There is nothing more beautiful than a strong community.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to learn that I can’t do it all alone and asking for help is okay. I fell into this habit of preaching to my 401gives nonprofits to collaborate, rely on each other, ask for help; all while I was taking on everything myself. I had to learn that asking for help on the execution of an idea is powerful and collaboration of this program is beautiful. That even if I can do everything on my own, that sometimes I shouldn’t.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.401gives.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/401gives/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/401Gives/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlynn-douglas-489113255/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2F401Gives