Nearly 500 guests gathered in the swanky, Art Deco-inspired Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. As Secret Service clad in dark glasses surrounded the event, it was clear the leading man of the night was none other than President Barack Obama. He’d be followed by Hollywood heartthrob Matthew McConaughey and newly reappointed Disney CEO Bob Iger, the honoree. The event chair was the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and philanthropy mentor Ron Conway. The anticipation in the crowd — which included politicos, models, athletes and plenty of press, from the New York Times to People magazine — was palpable.
The buzzy atmosphere of the December 6 gathering belied the cause behind it, one of the most devastating events in recent American memory. This was the 10-year remembrance benefit of the massacre of 20 first graders and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. But the evening was not just a commemoration, it was also the celebration of the unique successes of the nonprofit that arose from the tragedy.
Sandy Hook Promise was founded by Nicole Hockley, who lost her son Dylan, and is now CEO of the 501(c)(3) Sandy Hook Promise Foundation; Mark Barden, who lost his son Daniel, and is CEO of the 501(c)(4) Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund; and Bill Sherlach, who lost his wife Mary, the school’s psychologist, and serves as board chair overseeing both.
This effort has drawn support from an array of private philanthropists, including Conway, who told the crowd, “I’ve invested in lots of start-ups in tech and I’m proudest of Nicole and Mark, who are running the greatest start-up in America.”
It’s not surprising their efforts found empathy and funding from the ashes of tragedy. But as one of its fundraisers told me, empathy may compel someone to donate once; success brings them back. What Sandy Hook Promise has been able to build from the depths of grief isn’t just a poignant example of advocates keeping the flame against the odds, it’s also a major fundraising and institution-building success with data-driven impact.
More than 18.5 million youth and adults in 23,000 schools have participated in Sandy Hook Promise’s free “Know the Signs” violence prevention programs, called “Start with Hello’’ and “Say Something.” Students K through 12 learn to recognize the signs of potential violence and how to intervene to get help. Students and educators have anonymously reported more than 150,000 tips via the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS). More than 4,000 SAVE Promise Clubs promote kindness and inclusiveness in elementary, middle and high schools nationwide. Combining community-based programs, research and policy, this public health approach has resulted in more than 2,700 mental health interventions; prevented at least 367 suicides; and thwarted 93 acts of violence with a weapon, including 11 credible planned school shootings.
As President Obama took the stage, a hushed crowd listened intently as he called December 14, 2012, “the single darkest day of my presidency.” And though Congress yielded to the gun lobby in the massacre’s aftermath, he credited Sandy Hook families for not “falling in cynicism, disgust and despair” in the face of this inaction and digging in for the fight. As for funders, Ron Conway tells me plenty of philanthropists also refused to concede to the gun lobby and political gridlock. “I think there has been a huge donor awakening to fund these groups and others.”
Though gun reform is seen as an unwinnable issue by many funders, Sandy Hook Promise seems to have overcome that challenge with its holistic approach to reducing gun violence. Indeed, it’s become a darling of major individual donors, particularly from tech. Its biggest funder since inception has been the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which hosts donor-advised funds for many tech givers and has given 30 grants totaling $1.7 million (as of 2021). These donations have helped fuel Sandy Hook Promise’s impressive growth, with its publicly reported revenues increasing more than seven-fold from $3.5 million in FY16 to more than $25 million in FY21. Its notable fundraising efforts are doubly impressive considering that there are not a lot of billionaire donors or major foundations among its financial supporters.
Conway believes funders come to the issue of gun violence when it hits them personally. “For everyone, there is a shooting that is the last straw,” he says, “For me, it was Sandy Hook.” Conway was on a plane from San Francisco to Newtown just two weeks after the killings. “It was definitely the children… and it was crucial for the tech community to get involved.”
Within a week, he had his friends Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly meeting with Sandy Hook parents. He worked to bring the tech community on board, and by late January, just weeks after the massacre, he helped Giffords launch her early lobbying effort, Americans for Responsible Solutions (which reorganized and is now Giffords.org). Sandy Hook parents tried to get basic gun safety legislation passed through Congress in those early dark days and when they failed, they regrouped. “Knowing they had to do something else,” Conway says, they came up with their awareness and violence prevention initiatives. He helped raise more money and was on the early board of directors of the new initiative called Sandy Hook Promise.
“Sandy Hook Promise could not have gotten off the ground without private philanthropy, including Ron Conway, who was our first supporter,” says co-founder Nicole Hockley. “As a gun violence prevention group that focuses on more than just gun safety, private philanthropy has also supported us in other aspects of school safety, youth leadership, and mental wellness, as well as supporting our specific bipartisan legislative work within our 501(c)(4) Action Fund policy arm.”
Sandy Hook Promise has also been aided by extraordinary in-kind contributions worth millions of dollars annually. The global ad agency BBDO has produced jaw-dropping PSAs designed to reinforce the core message that gun violence is preventable when you know the signs. They’ve garnered more than 200 awards, including two Emmys.
Disney is another early and longtime philanthropic supporter. Bob Iger told the attendees that for “those of us in positions to effect change, we have an extra responsibility.” Under his leadership, Disney donated the funding to develop an age-appropriate version of ”Start With Hello” for elementary school students. Animated characters and an interactive storybook teach K-5 kids how to recognize when someone may be socially isolated and how to help. Iger challenged the room, saying, “If you’re sitting on the sidelines still, listen to the families.”
Even as the Newtown shooting has receded further into the past, Sandy Hook Promise has continued to gain momentum. “Every time there’s another shooting, more people come across, become aware and involved in the issue,” says Conway, who points to the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting and March for Our Lives, which got actor George Clooney engaged, along with millions of new supporters. Matthew McConaughey is originally from Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults were killed in another elementary school massacre. “Matthew will be an ambassador forever.”
McConaughey, father of four, mixed the language of faith and finance in his remarks. “I believe in children’s potential and trust the profit we can make in love.” Ask any parent what their greatest asset is, he challenged the well-heeled crowd, and they will answer “their children.” He called for “an appetite for mercy” and investment in saving more children’s lives, “the most important return on investment we can get.”
Conway sees gun safety groups like Sandy Hook Promise, Giffords and March for Our Lives mounting a growing cumulative effort. That’s certainly reflected in Sandy Hook’s ability to substantially increase its fundraising annually. Despite a dip the year of Parkland, donors seem to come on board and stay on board, with a giant jump in revenue between FY20 and FY21. Given the unrelenting onslaught of deadly shootings in 2022, it’s likely that this fundraising momentum will continue.
Though the Biden administration recently passed the first gun reforms in 30 years, most reform measures remained stalled at the federal and state levels. But the work of Sandy Hook Promise continues its impact. On December 14, 2022 — the 10th anniversary of the massacre — the organization’s anonymous reporting system received two tips: One identified a teen at high risk of suicide at a critical moment, and the other? Multiple students reported a hit list of teacher and student names. The student was identified, and the hit list was found in the student’s book bag. Whether or not the student had access to a weapon is under investigation.
“Our mission is being met, we’re creating so much awareness,” Conway told me. “There’s a huge sense of accomplishment after 10 years of work.” But for this angel investor, Sandy Hook Promise is the startup he’d gladly see out of business “tomorrow, if we could get Congress to act.”
Susan K. Barnett founded Cause Communications and is a former award-winning investigative journalist with the network newsmagazines PrimeTime Live, 20/20, and Dateline NBC.