Give Greenville: A One-Stop-Shop for Giving Local

Have you ever wanted to support your local community but didn't know where to start? Finding the right nonprofit to align with your values can be a challenge, especially with so many incredible organizations doing vital work. This episode unveils a groundbreaking solution for Greenville County residents: Give Greenville, a new online platform designed to bridge the gap between your generosity and real-time community needs. We sit down with leaders from two impactful local nonprofits to discuss how this tool is changing the game for local giving and how you can make a tangible difference.

In this in-depth conversation, we explore the immense value of a centralized nonprofit directory for Greenville County. Joined by Caroline Robertson of Greer Relief and Kim Mogan of GirlUp GVL, we uncover the daily challenges and triumphs of community-focused organizations. Caroline shares the stark reality of their work, including providing crisis assistance for families impacted by the SNAP benefit crunch and federal shutdowns, with their pantry needs growing from serving 25 to 100 families a day. Kim provides a look into the life-changing mentorship and financial literacy programs at GirlUp GVL, celebrating small victories that build lifelong habits for young women. We discuss exactly how to support local nonprofits in Greenville, not just financially, but through advocacy and volunteering. The conversation also highlights the critical importance of end-of-year giving in Greenville, with some organizations receiving up to 40% of their annual individual donations between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Discover how Give Greenville, a project led by Greater Good Greenville, empowers both newcomers and long-time residents to find and connect with causes they care about, supporting the year-round effort to build a stronger community.

Episode Resources:

• Discover the Give Greenville Nonprofit Directory

• Learn more about Greer Relief

• Learn more about GirlUp GVL

Introduction

Carri Hutchens: Hi, Caroline. Hi, Kim. Thanks for joining us.

Kim Mogan: Hi, thanks for having me.

Caroline Robertson: Good to be here.

Meeting Critical Community Needs: The Work of Greer Relief and GirlUp GVL

Carri Hutchens: Caroline, I'm going to start with you. I just want to give listeners a better idea of what you do. Can you share a story or an example of a recent project or impact that your organization has had?

Caroline Robertson: Right now, we are impacting the community greatly with this federal shutdown. We are drinking from a fire hose with everything coming in and everything going out. One of our programs, the one that everybody knows us by the most, is our stability program. And that is meeting people where they are and meeting that immediate need. And that is exactly what this is.

We are feeding people in need. Our normal assistance and help is 15, maybe 20, 25 people a day for our choice pantry. We are currently now up to 100 families a day and that is for this crisis assistance for this SNAP benefit crunch and federal shutdown. Not just SNAP folks, we are seeing just as many people that do not receive SNAP, of course answering the need for the federal workers as well that are not receiving their pay. It's a lot, but wonderful Greenville and Spartanburg counties that we serve... they are answering the need at this time.

Carri Hutchens: That's great. That's so important. Kim, what about you? Can you share a story or an example?

Kim Mogan: We work with amazing students here in Greenville County and I get to see the little glimpses of success every day. We have one student who's one of our college girls. And for the first time, she's been working with one of our mentors. For the first time, she was so excited because she got her paycheck and still had money left over from her first paycheck because we've been really focused on her budgeting.

That is huge change. That is such a huge win and a huge change that can impact her forever. Just building those habits, the financial awareness. And that is something that recently we're really excited about.

Just yesterday, I was with some students and a girl was very sad and came in not wanting to participate in the activity, but then left happy and was with her friends and laughing. Those are the little moments that build on to really the big picture of who we are, that we are creating safe places. We are creating life change for our students.

Carri Hutchens: That's awesome. If someone in the community, how would they learn about you or find you if they want to give to your organizations? Kim, I'll start with you.

Kim Mogan: We are really big on social media. As many cons as there are with social media, it has been very helpful for us to really tell the story. You really get to see the girls and hear from the girls. It's a great way to keep up with what we're doing and keep up with our needs. That automatically links to our website as well. That is where our donation platform is. It is housed on our website. So people can go there to see needs and also contribute financially.

Carri Hutchens: And Caroline, what about you?

Caroline Robertson: The easiest is to search for us to go to our website. You can donate directly. We also have many other platforms we participate in. Of course, Give Greenville and searching Greer Relief. There's multiple different ways to plug in and donate to the work that we do.

Introducing Give Greenville: A New Nonprofit Directory for Greenville County

Carri Hutchens: That leads me into the announcement of Give Greenville. That's one of the things we're really excited to share today. This is our new nonprofit directory that Greater Good Greenville is leading. This came about from our philanthropic landscape study, which took place last fall. One of the big things that came out of it was this untapped potential for individual giving.

We know that nonprofits like yours and all of the many, many nonprofits in our community, they have certain revenues, whether it's government funding, which as we've seen this year, can definitely ebb and flow. Then, of course, we have private foundations, corporate family foundations, things like that. But again, things can always ebb and flow and they're not always consistent. We learned that individuals have a lot of power, a lot of potential to give.

This directory is something that many communities in our country have. And we have launched it for Greenville County. It's Greenville County nonprofits that we've invited. This year is our soft launch year. We've invited some nonprofits across a variety of different missions and sizes to participate and to sign up. This is a way that newcomers will be able to find nonprofits so they can search by causes that they care about. They can search by keyword or if they have an organization in mind, they can search for them there.

And then also just anyone who's been involved in the community, if you know what you're looking for, you can find them there, too. We really want to have a comprehensive list of all of these different nonprofits. And there are other potentials as well for future community campaigns and collaborations. It's really, really exciting.

Kim Mogan: I'm excited about it. I think this is something that even the nonprofit community has been wanting so that people can really see all the ways that they can support the community. We're all out here doing a lot of different things and we all need support. Finding the match for people is going to be so helpful to really encourage people to have that financial stake in their community.

Why Give Greenville is a Game-Changer for Local Nonprofits

Carri Hutchens: Absolutely. In our landscape study, we interviewed a lot of nonprofits, a lot of philanthropic funders. It came from all of those different sources and saying that this is something that we're really interested in. We also know that there are a lot of newcomers who have been coming to Greenville and Greenville County. So many people moving here who want to get involved, but they don't know exactly how.

We're really excited to share this opportunity and get all these nonprofits on board. Both of your organizations signed up early and we're really excited to have you. Can you speak a little bit more about how excited you are for this directory, why you got involved, and how you're hoping that it'll help your organization? Caroline, I'll start with you.

Caroline Robertson: I think it's an incredible way to really shine a light on local organizations. It's that one-stop shop for local organizations doing the good work and that life-changing work right here in our community, especially those smaller ones. Really being able to look and dial in and look at the smaller organizations that don't always have those large marketing budgets that can really blast out and really show this is who we are and what we're doing in the community.

And people do, they do want to give local. They want to see what they're doing and see what their dollar is doing. They really want to touch and feel and be able to walk in the door of the place that they're supporting. And this gives them that chance. But then, to your point, local, when they come in, especially those newcomers, they don't always know where to start. And this will give them that opportunity.

Give Greenville really does bridge that gap and connecting generosity with a real community need. I love that it supports year-round giving too. We're talking about holiday and you can give, but really year-round giving, it really is about year-round giving, not just the holidays. Being able to continue that support on a regular basis.

Carri Hutchens: That's a very good point. People can find these organizations and give anytime throughout the year. It's not just year end. Great point. Kim, anything to add there as well?

Kim Mogan: As a smaller nonprofit, I love the support for more promotion of the smaller nonprofits. It's really helpful. We don't have a large marketing, advertising budget. So it is super helpful. And I just love the fact that people can really find where they want to be invested, really what is a match for them and how they can make a difference. I love the opportunity to just explore all that Greenville is doing and for them to see really the work that is happening.

The Critical Role of End-of-Year Giving and Giving Tuesday

Carri Hutchens: That's awesome. I just want to dig a little bit more into giving. We've talked about there's giving year round and then there's year-end giving or holiday giving season. That's when a lot of people really want to be charitable. So what does that look like for your organizations and how important is end-of-year giving for your organization? Kim, I'll start with you.

Kim Mogan: End-of-year giving is really important for us. We do Giving Tuesday. It's big for every nonprofit, but for us that is a really big campaign that we focus on. The girls get an opportunity to participate in that and so people can really see and hear the difference that they're making.

Even thinking about Give Greenville and just with year-end giving, having individuals, once again, having individuals really find who they want to support and how they want to make a difference. Even if they do large year-end giving, that makes a difference for us in 2026 as well. All donations matter, even for people that feel like it may not be enough or it may not make a difference. I can tell you every dollar matters. Every dollar matters.

Carri Hutchens: And for folks, Giving Tuesday this year is Tuesday, December 2nd. We don't have an official campaign here in Greenville County, but a lot of organizations do it on their own, or it's just such a well-known day that folks will give to causes that they care about, to local nonprofits. We encourage you on Giving Tuesday and, of course, any other day that you'd like to give back. That's a great time to do it. And Caroline, what about you?

Caroline Robertson: About 35 to 40 percent of our annual donations arrive between Thanksgiving and December 31st. Now, that's not grants, but that's our just individual giving. It really, truly is that season for giving for us. And my board every year or every month prior to that are like, "OK, that number is really looming. Are we really?" And I'm like, "Well, we were waiting. We're waiting for those last two months of the year."

That support keeps our doors open, our shelves stocked, our neighbors in need housed and the lights on. And then our Renew program, our prevention program is running for the next year. We remind people that every gift, every gift matters. When I am looking at one of our neighbors, when we're doing any kind of assistance, when I'm looking at them, I am looking at our donors. Every time we're assisting somebody, it matters, no matter what size. It helps prevent homelessness. It keeps our families fed. It really, truly builds that long-term stability in our community in helping.

Beyond Donations: Supporting Nonprofits with Time and Advocacy

Carri Hutchens: That's so important. And then I'd like to ask if there's anything else you'd like to add and perhaps other ways that folks might give. Of course, you can use Give Greenville. You can donate to organizations of your choice in terms of money. Of course, there's volunteering, donations, things like that. In addition to other ways of giving, if there's anything else you'd like to add as well that you think folks would find helpful.

Caroline Robertson: Greer Relief is built on neighbors helping neighbors. Whether you give, volunteer, or just spread the word, being an advocate is just as important as helping and volunteering, just knowing about the services and the community and the need. And honestly, not even just about Greer Relief, it is about just knowing about where to go for the kind of help that we have. Whatever pantry is in your community, what other organization that does help is just about knowledge. Be that person that is that helper that does know and be that advocate.

But partnerships like Give Greenville will make generosity more visible. And that is very important. Again, just making sure that nonprofits have the tools that they need to continue the good work that we're here to do and more powerful across our entire region. It just makes our community that much more special. I love Greenville. I love the work that we're doing here. And Greater Good is just making that much more accessible to everybody.

Carri Hutchens: That's awesome. Kim, what about you?

Kim Mogan: I agree with everything she said. The sharing about the nonprofits in the community is so helpful. It's another way to really be involved. If you feel like you're not able to make a financial contribution at the time, making sure that people know about who we are and what we're doing is really important and helps to strengthen our brand. And maybe there's someone else that would be wanting and willing to give.

We always need people's time. We're investing in the lives of young girls here in our community. And we need people who are willing to partner with us to do that. Whether that's volunteering on a regular basis, being a mentor, or hosting our students to see your company or what career field you're in, we always need people's time.

Carri Hutchens: That's great. I really appreciate it. And thank you both so much for your time and for sharing all of this information with us today.

Kim Mogan: Thank you so much for having me.

Caroline Robertson: Thank you.