When donations slack, nonprofits get creative

Some sell items on eBay or call regular donors. All plan for the coming year. Donations to nonprofits can come in droves during the month of December. The same often cannot be said for January.

It’s no secret that the holiday season motivates the givers. But once the calendar year turns, those on the receiving end of charitable gifts tend to get more creative in their attempts to keep momentum going.

Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter in Costa Mesa has turned to the Internet for a little extra revenue. Nicole Barker, associate director of development and marketing, has begun to post high-end donated items on eBay, with the hope of raising money to buy a range of products for the organization.

She said the first item posted on eBay, a Helmut Lang handbag, sold for about $180, which allowed the shelter to purchase 13 pillows.

“My hope is that we can start to become a self-sufficient organization,” Barker said. “The public likes to see the shelter run this way. I don’t have to make phone calls asking for donations all the time.”

Many organizations look to nontraditional ways of fundraising during the slower months of the year, Barker added. And the beginning stages of a year are largely dedicated to planning.

“A lot of the time we try to be proactive and think six months in advance,” she said.

The same is true at Friends in Service of Humanity, a Newport Beach-based nonprofit that helps the working poor. Executive Director Dana Timmermans said developing new contacts and keeping in touch with regular donors is the most productive use of time.

About 60% of donations are given in November and December, Timmermans estimates.

At Share Our Selves, an organization that provides care and assistance to those in need, early January is about looking back.

“We’ve had wonderful support, so we are on to the thank-you-note writing ,” Executive Director Karen McGlinn said.

Giving during this past holiday season surpassed totals from the previous five years, said Director of Development Karen Harrington.

She said January is historically one of their slowest months, in terms of both individual giving and money coming in from grants. Summer is also a down time, she said.

Harrington said in the group’s quarterly newsletter -- next distributed in February -- she thanks donors but reminds them that the need for food and support never goes away.

Like Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter’s Barker, Harrington said she understands that people can “get tired of solicitation.”

The so-called January slump is also felt at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, though General Manager Shannon Santos said the loss of volunteers isn’t crippling.

“We’re fortunate in that since we do this seven days a week, we’ve established a routine as far as donations and pickups,” Santos said. “We have volunteers who have been coming for 10 to 15 years and know we always need help, rain or shine.”

While 80-plus volunteers help out per day around Thanksgiving and Christmas, about 15 helpers come to the center on a given January weekday, Santos said.

And that’s just fine with her.

“This is a chance to catch our breath,” Santos said. “We did it. We made it through the holidays and are back into our normal routine.”