Frequently Asked Questions
Have you ever had a question and didn’t know where to find the answer? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
This section is a compilation of answers to the questions most commonly asked by our constituents. If you can’t find the question you wanted to ask, don’t hesitate to contact us.
1. Q. Is My Donation to Give Nebraska Tax Deductible?
A. Yes, Give Nebraska is a nonprofit 501c3 organization and gifts are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
2. Q. What Makes Give Nebraska Unique?
A. The power of Give Nebraska is in its ability to transform our community through donor directed giving. This ability to choose which organization a donor would like to support, through payroll deduction, is Give Nebraska's strength.
3. Q. How Many Organizations Belong to Give Nebraska?
A. As of July 2024, 76 member agencies belong to Give Nebraska ranging from social service agencies to arts, cultural and humanities based groups to organizations that contribute to the high quality of life in Nebraska.
4. Q. Why Are There So Many Choices?
A. Give Nebraska's strength is in donor choice. No single federation could possibly fundraise for all nonprofit choices in our community. Give Nebraska was formed in 1981 in response to donors asking for more and different choices and to nonprofits looking for new sources of funding.
5. Q. Why Give Through Give Nebraska Instead of Directly to the Agency?
A. Give Nebraska does not want to discourage a donor from giving directly to agencies. Payroll deduction is another way, and perhaps a better way for you to support your community. Payroll deduction could be a better option because: 1) It's convenient to have donations deducted each pay period; and 2) It may allow the donor to give more money because it is spread over a year's time. One reason Give Nebraska member agencies like payroll deduction campaigns is because they are a low-cost way to educate and inform the community-at-large and to recruit donors and volunteers.
6. Q. What Happens if I Don't Designate My Gift to a Specific Agency?
A. All contributions not designated to a specific agency (or equal distribution) are retained by Give Nebraska for the purpose of operating. Give Nebraska uses these contributions to conduct our annual campaign, market the federation, support member agencies, keep agency fees low, and promote good philanthropy across Nebraska. In retaining all undesignated contributions, Give Nebraska also insures that designated gifts have more impact and no individual donor dollars are passed through to agencies that donors don't personally support. Donor designation is a hallmark to the work Give Nebraska does. We encourage donors to designate all contributions to the causes they care about most!
7. Q. How Do Nonprofit Organizations Become Members of Give Nebraska?
A. Nonprofit organizations complete an application, which is reviewed by the Give Nebraska Membership Committee. The committee recommends to the Give Nebraska Member’s Council which organizations to accept for membership. The entire membership of Give Nebraska comprises the Member’s Council and makes the final vote to accept recommended new members.
8. Q. How Does Give Nebraska Evaluate the Member Agencies?
A. Give Nebraska evaluates the member agencies in two ways: agencies must provide updated financial and program information annually; secondly, they must participate in the running of Give Nebraska. It is a community driven fund and Give Nebraska expects all agencies to actively participate.
9. Q. Does Give Nebraska Duplicate Efforts with Other Workplace Giving Organizations? How is Give Nebraska Different from Other Workplace Giving Opportunities?
A. Give Nebraska is similar to, but very different from other common workplace giving charities. Give Nebraska encourages the use of payroll deduction to raise funds, but it represents different nonprofit agencies and distributes the funds received differently. Give Nebraska offers a diverse choice of agencies. Give Nebraska distributes the majority of the money raised based on donor designation. This is in contrast to the most familiar workplace giving charity who distributes money according to allocation amounts pre-determined by committee.
10. Q. Do Any Give Nebraska Agencies Receive Money from Other Federations?
A. Give Nebraska member agencies do not receive money from any other workplace giving federation, other than donor choice designations. Likewise other federation's agencies do not receive money from Give Nebraska. It’s all about community giving.
