Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm while recouping from the Blizzard of '26. Before I jump into everything 401Gives, I wanted to take a brief moment to address the tragedy that has occurred in the Pawtucket community. This event, following the tragedy at Brown University just shy of 2 months later, is jarring and thoroughly saddening. The Alliance team, along with everyone at United Way of Rhode Island, sends our hearts out to everyone affected by last Monday's events. While our condolences are deep and sincere, we also recognize that "thoughts and prayers" are simply not enough. In times like these where we are unable to finish grieving before facing something new, it is easy to feel out of control and lost on what to do next. We also acknowledge the additional hardships our nonprofit partners face. Your work does not stop, you often don't get a second to breathe, and your clients and communities continue needing support.

I was born and raised in Rhode Island, and I love this place with my whole heart. One of the things I cherish most is how connected we all are in our little Ocean State. There is an invisible string that ties us all together. This most revered attribute is also what makes an event like this ripple so widely and deeply amongst our neighbors. In trying times such as these, fall back on your community and be part of someone else's as well.

When you feel like there is nothing else you can do, your final radical act can be to love."

-Caitlynn Douglas (she/her), 401Gives Lead

What You'll Find Below:

View this newsletter in your browser and use the find feature to skip ahead.

Giving Time Frame
Registration
Site Updates
Trainings and Downloads
Completing Your Profile - The Basics
Completing Your Profile - Upping Your Game
A Final Note

Giving Timeframe for 2026

The giving period for 2026 is 3/31/26 @ 6am - 4/1/26 @ 6pm

To honor Passover, giving period has shfited backwards a day.
If you need to be reminded of this, you can find these new dates and times on your partner dashboard, under "Message from the Host"
Be sure to communicate this adjust timing to your audiences so they can engage in 401Gives from start to end!

Registration

Registration closes on 3/20/2026

Registration closes soon!
Be sure to register as soon as possible to give yourself the most time to get comfortable in the campaign.
If you have any questions in regard to registration, please email 401.Gives@unitedwayri.org

Site Updates

This year has been one of change for the 401Give site

Peer2Peer Fundraising

Online bots found the Peer2Peer fundraising sign-up buttons and went crazy!
The external facing Peer2Peer button, that allows supporters to sign-up on their own, was removed while the Engineering team worked on fixes.
The Peer2Peer sign-up button will return on March 1st!
You can also now copy over Peer2Peer profiles!
- If someone has done a Peer2Peer fundrasier for your organization before, they will now be given the option to copy over their old profiles!

Overall Status of Site

Spam sign-ups have significantly decreased over the past few weeks.
The protection based actions will remain open and high-priority tickets until there is almost zero activity related to the matter.
The site is checked regularly by the Bonterra team and suspicious behavior is addressed quickly.
In short, the bot behavior is more annoying and a nuissance rather than a breach or system compromise.

Security Measures

There has been a few additions to the site and sign-up process to enhance security
Verficiation processes, expanded keyword blocking, and reCAPTCHA have been instituted in various points of the site.
Some folks experienced trouble accessing the site. It seems to be resolved for most. Here are some things to know in regards to this:
- If you are still experiencing this issue, please email 401.Gives@unitedwayri.org
- If this is the first time you are encountering this issue, please also email the above address and include the following information:
- 1) Are you seeing a Clloudfare error page? If so, could you send a screenshot (if you are unsure what you are seeing, send a screenshot anyways).
- 2) Do you or your organization have a firewall, VPN, or other internet restricitions?

Trainings and Downloads

Supportive tools are available for your use!

Downloads

Use the 401Gives graphics and images to kickstart your marketing efforts!
Talk about why you participate in 401Gives, celebrate the countdown, and encourage your donors to post their giving badges.

Find 401Gives Assets Here

Trainings

You can access various kinds of training materials that will aid you in building out a successful campaign!
You can attend any of the three rolling Bonterra trainings that discuss successful giving day best practices.
There is also a 401Gives Youtube channel where you can find previously recorded trainings on topics like Peer2Peer Fundraising, Social Media Practices, and more!
Upcoming Training, Canva 101: Chat with Ray Nunez, of the Nunez Co who drives 401Gives socials and marketing, while he walks you through basic practices and tips & tricks on Canva. You'll also be able to access some new 401Gives assets, unvieled for the first time during this training! Register below.
- Before the training, have your organizational logos handy if you want to follow along
- Make a login on Canva! Nonprofits get canva pro for free!

Find Trainings Here

Complete Your Profile - The Basics

Please find an in-depth checklist below of what you should have completed on your profile as we head into March!

Logistics:

Add all admins, including your main representative, that might need to access your dashboard during the campaign.
- Doing this in advance makes sure that everyone has quick and smooth access during the giving day.
- Here is a help article on adding admins.
- If your main representative of your org has changed, make sure to follow the steps to update this information. Here is a help article in relation to changing your main representative.
Make sure your organization is verified and your bank accounts are correct.
- If you are not verified, your organization cannot participate in the actual giving day. Your dashboard will let you know if you are verified or not.
- If your bank account is not set-up properly, it will be harder to transfer the funds you have raised.
- Here is a help article on organizational verificiation.
- Here is a help article on updating/changing your bank account.

Creating Your Profile:

Adding Your Orgnizations Information
- Update your website link, causes, logo image
- Causes are especially important as this is a search filter for donors
Add Your Organizations Story
- Update your cover photo, set a goal, write your orgs story, and add a video link.
- Watch the How to Tell Your Story recorded training or read the help article.
- Adding in a video means donors can listen to your organizations story instead of having to read it. This could mean a lot on a fast paced day like 401Gives.
- Keywords optimize search results on the campaign website. Add terms relevant to your org that are not captured in your story, name, or selected causes.
Add Donation Levels
- Adding donation levels allows donors to make quick giving decisions as well as knowing what their gift could turn into.
- Make these accessible amounts that correlate to action
- Here is a help article on adding donation levels
Add a "Thank You" Message
- Write a unique thank you to your donors to accompany the GiveGab/Bonterra reciept they will recieve.
- Add a celebratory image to partner with your words.
- If your organization has a donation disclaimer, you can add that here too.
- Here is a help article on adding a thank you message.
Add Fundraisers
- This is where you add Peer2Peer Fundraisers.
- Here is a help article on various topics regarding Peer2Peer Fundraiser.

Complete Your Profile - Upping Your Game

Here is a list of things you can do to take your profile to the next level.

Adding Your Organization's Info
- Add in Search Keywords.
- Keywords optimize search results on the campaign website. Add terms relevant to your org that are not captured in your story, name, or selected causes.
Add a "Thank You" Message
- Create and add a YouTube link!
- Create a thank you message in video form. Make your donors feel special. Get creative!
- During 401Gives, donors have to take in so much information. If they can instead hear the "thank you" directly from your org, it might make all the difference!
Add a "Give Again" Message
- Provide a message to donors using the "Give a Little More" feature, as well as an image or video link!
- Here is more information on the "Give a Little More" feature.
- Here is a help article on crafiting a "Give Again" message.
Manage Matches and Challenges
- Your organization can post matching and challenges opportunites that are specific your pages.
- This is a great way to keep donors enageged inbetween site-wide matching opportunities.
- Here is a help article on setting up a match opportunity
- Here is a help article on adding a challenge on your page
- Here is a link to Matching Gifts and Challenge Ideas.
Manage Support Areas
- Adding support areas allows you to highlight programs, projects, or campaigns you might be working on.
- When you make a support area it comes with space for its own logo, story, donation levels, matches, Peer2Peer fundraisers, and unique URL. Additionally, your support areas (also called "fundraising campaigns") show up on the search page.
- Here is a comprehensive help article on setting up support areas.

A Final Note

In 2025, 401Gives raised $4.9 million dollars for 644 nonprofits. This would not have been possible without the dedication and hardwork that all participating nonprofits pour into this program. I am looking forward to watching all of you crush your goals, break $5 million, and put the "fun" in fundraising!

Now is a good time to start communicating out to your donors about 401Gives and getting your Peer2Peer fundraisers prepped.

As always, if you need assistance or have questions/curiosities please email 401.Gives@unitedwayri.org or use your blue question mark to connect with the Bonterra team.

Thank you all so much!

-Caitlynn Douglas (she/her), 401Gives Lead

Thank You to Our 401Gives 2026 Sponsors

Powered By

United Way of Rhode Island || Alliance for Nonprofit Impact

Presenting Sponsor

Papitto Opportunity Connection

Matching Gift Sponsors

Rhode Island Foundation

Rhode Island Energy

CapEx Advisory Group

Wave Sponsor