WAM Theatre had an incredible Giving Tuesday campaign this year, raising over $10,000 thanks to the generosity of our online donors. All of us at WAM have an enormous amount of gratitude for the support shown to us on Giving Tuesday (and always!) and in honor of the trust our donors place in us, we are also left with some unanswered questions for Facebook. Below is an open letter to Facebook and PayPal from WAM’s incoming board president, Wendy Healey.
December 6, 2018
Dear Facebook and PayPal,
First, thank you for the role you played in raising awareness and offering matching funds for Giving Tuesday 2018. Worthy causes around the world have benefited from this growing tradition.
I am the incoming Board President of WAM Theatre, a nonprofit theatre in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, that creates theatre for everyone and donates 25% of its box office proceeds to organizations that benefit women and girls. WAM is turning 10 years old in 2019, and has donated $56,000 to 15 organizations.
While we at WAM are thrilled about the awareness and funds we raised through Facebook on Giving Tuesday, we were disappointed to receive notification on Thursday, November 29th that WAM had not received any funds from the well-promoted $7 million Facebook and Paypal match.
We understand that $7 million goes quickly when thousands of nonprofits worldwide are all energized, as we were, to make the most of this chance. At WAM, we had mobilized key donors to donate right at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. For example, I gave a stretch gift of $1,000 with the hope of turning it into $2,000 in impactful funds for WAM.
Going forward, we feel we would be misleading our donors and putting the trust we are so carefully building at risk by continuing drive them to your site to make a donation at 8:00 a.m. on Giving Tuesday, when we don’t have a realistic sense of what the odds are of receiving a match.
Therefore, to further maximize our success with Giving Tuesday and knowing that matches play a significant role in that success, I’m writing to ask you to provide more details and transparency about the matching funds you advertised for Giving Tuesday.
My questions are:
Which nonprofit organizations did receive matching funds?
How much did each of them receive?
Where are the recipients located?
How was the amount they received calculated?
How many nonprofits raised money on Facebook on Giving Tuesday?
Of that number, how many received matching funds?
If Facebook and PayPal hope to maintain the trust and goodwill of donors and nonprofits, and continue to play a pivotal role in Giving Tuesday in the future, we ask that you be more transparent about what you give, who you give it to, and how you calculate the amounts received.
Thank you again for all you do to make Giving Tuesday such an impactful day for worthy causes worldwide. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Wendy Healey,
Incoming Board President, WAM Theatre