Last fall, Giants of Generosity, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit based in Cresskill, N.J., and devoted to supporting individuals and families going through major hardships, was looking to expand.
While its work and charitable donations could be considered giant for those whom it serves, the organization itself is quite small: so small, in fact, that founder and sole employee D. Jane Albanese has run Giants of Generosity out of her own apartment since founding it in December 2006.
The challenge has not slowed Albanese ”“ since being incorporated, Giants of Generosity has assisted 39 families, raised more than $265,000 and organized a number of fundraisers and other initiatives ”“ but she acknowledged that expansion is necessary for the charity”™s long-term survival.
“I”™m amazed by the progress ”“ we are making a real difference. The end result is ”˜let”™s help people in need”™ and there”™s an awful lot of need,” she said, adding that more volunteers and more benefactors are desirable “because we need to build the core of this worthy foundation in order to serve our clients.”
Enter Tarrytown-based Lexco Wealth Management Inc., which had been looking for a way to directly have an impact on the underprivileged and needy members of its own community.
After meeting with Albanese, Lexco CEO Christopher P. Jordan said the company would partner with Giants of Generosity to help it expand its activities into Westchester County.
“There are always going to be these big and weighty issues … but the theme we were thinking of is ”˜What are the small steps that we can take that really affect a big change?”™” Jordan said. “I think given the opportunity there”™s still a great deal of people who will do something to help their fellow neighbors and if it”™s presented correctly sometimes they will just need to (volunteer).”
With the ongoing economic difficulties being experienced across Westchester and much of the nation, nonprofits have been struggling to find new ways to generate charitable contributions.
At United Way of Westchester and Putnam Inc., which coordinates fundraising efforts in concert with hundreds of other nonprofits and community-based organizations, year-end donations were not expected to be strong.
“We started the year strong with September numbers steady with last year. … Unfortunately, November donations dropped significantly,” Naomi Adler, president and CEO, said in an email. “Although donations are still coming in, it appears we are seeing more than a 20 percent drop in Thanksgiving donations.”
Adler said that it was still too early to determine donation levels for the month of December, but said that decisions by many of the largest companies that support the United Way to delay campaigns until later in the year may have backfired.
“Several of the larger companies ran their campaigns later in the year hoping it would boost donations. In the end, the campaigns did not do as well.”
Susan Pruder, director of development at Gilda”™s Club Westchester, which benefits cancer patients and their families, said that the holiday season is typically one of the organization”™s most important periods for contributions.
“Every year we have our annual appeal, and just like all nonprofits we try to bring in certain amounts of money by year”™s end,” Pruder said, adding that she expects the organization to meet its fundraising goals through the holiday season.
She acknowledged that competition for corporate dollars is fierce among the county”™s charities.
“It”™s always hard to compete in any economy with these corporations because they only have so many organizations they will support.”
