Thanksgiving for many marks the start of the holiday shopping season, with today’s feasting followed in quick succession by Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Local nonprofit organizations are hoping the public will keep their pocketbooks open a bit longer for Giving Tuesday and the days that come after as the effects of the COVID-19 crisis linger.

There’s reason to be hopeful: Nonprofits nationally and locally report that donors continue to respond generously to the acute hardships brought on by the pandemic, even though traditional fundraising efforts have been hampered.

“When we compare our numbers pre-COVID to the giving that we’ve seen during COVID — and we’re not out of COVID yet — we still see an increase from pre-COVID numbers,” said Michelle Ka‘uhane, senior vice president and chief impact officer at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, which distributed $100 million in grants in 2021 for causes as diverse as emergency rent and utility assistance, anti-tobacco awareness and watershed protection.

“So definitely I think donors and organizations are responding to the tremendous need that’s out there,” she said.

The influx of federal pandemic-relief dollars also helped “carry folks through” the past 2-1/2 years, Ka‘uhane said.

Despite rising employment and a strong rebound in tourism, many Hawaii families are still struggling with housing and other living expenses as COVID-19 relief payments and programs fade out and inflation, gas and utility costs are taking a bigger bite out of household budgets.

Aloha United Way’s 211 information and referral helpline received 32,728 calls this year through Nov. 15, compared with the 18,215 calls received in 2019 before the pandemic took hold, the agency reported. Still, the number of calls so far this year is well below the 61,386 calls in 2021 and the 110,456 in 2020.

Rental assistance has been the top request from callers, with help with food and utility payments close behind.

“The pandemic may, hopefully, be winding down but the ripple effects will be felt for quite some time and the social services needs, including mental health concerns, child care, kupuna care and even medical care for those who did not get checked on during the pandemic, will continue to put pressure on nonprofits and our whole social system,” said AUW President and CEO John Fink.

AUW campaigns raised $9.6 million in 2021, compared with $8 million in 2020 and $8.5 million in 2019, according to the agency’s annual reports. The overall total of funds raised jumped from $17.5 million in 2019 to $45.4 million in 2020 due to a major boost in grants and government funding. In 2021 that figure dropped to $30.4 million.

Fink said nonprofit organizations, especially those helping lower-income and so-called ALICE families (asset-limited, income- constrained, employed households earning above the federal poverty level but struggling to afford basic expenses), are still “very much in ongoing need of cash gifts, volunteers and donations of in-demand items.”

Filling in the gap

While data for 2022 is limited, there are indications that many businesses, philanthropic foundations and individuals were moved to donate or volunteer at greater levels during the pandemic, although inflation is offsetting some of those gains and not all nonprofits are faring equally.

According to the Asso­ciation of Fundraising Professionals’ Fundraising Effectiveness Project, U.S. charitable giving increased 6.2% in the second quarter of 2022 from the same period a year earlier despite a continuing decline in donors, particularly small donors giving under $500.

Lisa Maruyama, CEO and president of the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, said a good number of philanthropic foundations made commitments beyond the federally required 5% minimum annual disbursement and joined with other funders to create hui to provide emergency relief or targeted assistance.

“From where I sit and how it feels, there’s a lot more federal funding coming into the state of Hawaii, and that is encouraging creative financing and creative work and partnerships and collaborations, and that’s good to see those trends happening,” she said. “People are thinking in different ways to do impactful work with this type of funding.”

Because nonprofits are so varied in their missions and funding models, Maruyama said it’s difficult to comment on donor levels across the board, but “anecdotally people are back out doing their usual fundraisers that are in-person, whether it’s a dinner or a golf tournament or whatever. Everything seems to feel like business as usual. So hopefully people are still seeing a robust response from donors, whether it’s corporate partners or individual donors. It feels sort of like it’s back to normal.”

Maruyama added, though, that she has been hearing from nonprofit executives that “demand for services is at an all-time high and yet funding still is not matching that demand.”

AUW, which supports more than 300 nonprofit partners, is in the midst of its annual workplace campaign that brings in roughly $8 million annually, according to Fink.

“With more people back at work, we anticipate hitting our overall agency workplace campaign giving goals this year,” Fink said. “Thanks in large part to our amazing business community partners and with some government assistance, we were able to meet our goals in 2020 and 2021, with companies sometimes stepping up to provide financial gifts where the employees fell a little short during COVID.”

Fink said that if nothing else, the pandemic made the public more aware of the “huge needs” in the community and the work of the many Hawaii nonprofits providing social services.

Year-round giving

The Salvation Army didn’t waste any time launching its Love Beyond Christmas campaign to encourage giving throughout the year, not just during the holidays. Its traditional Red Kettles began bell ringing earlier than usual, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, at Walmart stores, with a wider rollout to shopping malls, supermarkets and other locations starting Friday through Christmas Eve.

“We are anticipating many more folks will be needing assistance this year, particularly as some of the government’s pandemic support programs are ending, combined with the impacts of inflation,” said Maj. Phil Lum, divisional commander of the Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands.

In its 2021 Impact Report, the Salvation Army says it helped 132,451 people last year and served over 1 million meals throughout the region. It also provided substance abuse treatment, emergency disaster serv­ices, basic-needs items, youth services and housing and utility support.

Nearly $11.5 million of the organization’s $39.1 million in 2021 revenue came from contributors and grants, with an additional $13 million from government funding, according to the Impact Report.

Lum said overall donations are a little slower this year than in previous years and the organization is hoping that those who are able to give will give generously. The Salvation Army has made it easier to donate digitally using a QR code via Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal.

The agency also is running its Angel Tree campaign at various locations to fulfill gift wishes from keiki or kupuna, and providing food assistance through Thanksgiving meals, food boxes, food pantries and other means across Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island.

One of those programs is run out of the Kauluwela Mission Corps at the corner of Alakea Street and North Vineyard Boulevard. The Salvation Army Meals backpack program distributes take-home meals on Fridays to kids at four public schools so they will have food for the weekend. During the past school year, the corps expected to provide meals to 200 keiki weekly but received 420 applications, Lum said.

Holding steady

2022 was a “special year” for Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, not only because the agency celebrated its 75th anniversary with events and initiatives that boosted fundraising, but because of its continued partnership with the City and County of Hono­lulu in providing $125 million in rent relief to more than 20,000 households.

At the start of the pandemic, the agency received “an outpouring of generosity” from funders, according to Mary Leong Saunders, vice president of philanthropy. With the rent relief efforts, Catholic Charities served over 100,000 individuals last year when typically that number is 40,000, she said.

“Our stakeholders were very generous with us in 2022 and were slightly higher than pre-pandemic years,” Leong Saunders said. “We understand that this was a special year of celebrating 75 years of service and advocacy to the community and that 2023 may not be at exactly the same level.”

Operating on a far smaller scale, First United Methodist Church of Honolulu has continued to provide fresh produce, canned goods and other groceries through its food bank, which is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Mondays and one Saturday each month. The church also offers free takeout meals Sunday mornings.

Last Saturday over 70 bags of groceries were distributed to 38 households, according to the Rev. Kim Houff, who oversees the church’s ministries of discipleship and community engagement. The program is supported by the Hawaii Foodbank and a portion of proceeds from the church’s collection plate and tithing.

The Rev. Tom Choi, senior pastor at First UMC, said giving by church members, especially the Tongan congregation, has been “pretty consistent” throughout the pandemic.

“We’re pretty much on track,” he said. “I look at the fact that we’re just kind of holding steady as really positive.”

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Give thanks by giving

The annual Good Neighbor Fund, a charitable partnership between Helping Hands Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and First Hawaiian Bank, helps struggling individuals and families during the holiday season.

This year under the Adopt A Family Program, more than 600 families are seeking assistance with food, clothing, toys and household items. Donations to the Good Neighbor Fund also assist Helping Hands with operational costs for the nonprofit’s Community Clearinghouse Program, which helps people with basic necessities throughout the year.

The Local News section of Sunday’s Star-Advertiser will feature one of the families benefiting from Good Neighbor Fund donations. More information will be provided on how you can help, followed by weekly profiles and updates on donations through Christmas Day.

Individuals can drop off cash or checks to the “Good Neighbor Fund” at any First Hawaiian Bank branch statewide until Dec. 31.

Here are just a few other ways to live — and give — the holiday spirit:

>> AUW Holiday Wish Lists. Adopt one of 25 participating nonprofit agencies by checking Aloha United Way’s Holiday Wish Lists of donation needs and volunteer opportunities, or donate to AUW at auw.org/give.

>> First United Methodist Church food bank. Support the church’s food distribution programs and other outreach by volunteering or donating at firstumchonolulu.org.

>> Giving Tuesday. Many Hawaii nonprofits in a variety of causes are participating in this “global generosity movement,” held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Learn more and donate at givingtuesday.org.

>> Hawai‘i Community Foundation. Donations of any amount are welcome and can be designated to a specific fund at hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/give.

>> Light the World Giving Machine Project. Purchase items ranging from clothes, shelter, meals, counseling and classes for this campaign sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, with locations at Pearlridge Center’s Court Mauka near the Holiday Train Express and Wai Makai near the Santa photo booth, through Jan. 2. Volunteers will be stationed at the machines to help contributors navigate the process. This year’s beneficiaries are Adult Friends for Youth, Family Program of Hawai‘i, Pacific Gateway Center, U.S. Vets Hawai‘i, the American Red Cross and iDE.

>> Love Beyond Christmas. Help the Salvation Army provide for those in need throughout the year by making a cash donation at hawaii.salvationarmy.org or donate digitally using a QR code via Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal. Donors also can support Red Kettle collection sites at various locations through Christmas Eve, and the Angel Tree program with paper angel tags with the name, age and gender of keiki or kupuna in need, located at major malls and other locations through Dec. 15. And now through Dec. 31, customers at Foodland and Sack N Save stores can make donations at checkout with cash or Maika‘i points that are turned into Foodland gift certificates and distributed to needy families on the island where donations are received.

>> Ward Senior Giving Tree. Select an ornament with a kupuna’s gift wish at Logos Bookstore at Ward Centre, Whole Foods (second-level parking entry) and TJ Maxx in this holiday campaign sponsored by Catholic Charities Hawai‘i and Ward Village. Unwrapped gifts must be returned to designated drop-off points at Island Olive Oil and TJ Maxx by Dec. 12. Find other ways to support Catholic Charities Hawai‘i at catholiccharitieshawaii.org.