Give More 24! happens Thursday, September 22 and the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington (CFSWW) has set the bar high. According to Maury Harris, marketing and communications specialist for the CFSWW, this years’ goal is an “audacious $1 million in 24 hours.”
Give More 24! is an online giving marathon specifically targeting nonprofit organizations in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties. Charitable associations outside the area wishing to participate must be servicing the local community.
Currently, there is a stretch pool of $75,000 available, meaning that matching donors have sponsored up to that amount as area residents contribute to organizations such as Friends of the Carpenter, Free Clinic of Southwest Washington and North County Community Food Bank. In order to be processed, all donations must be made through the website from 12 a.m. on September 22 until 12 a.m. on September 23.
There are also more than a dozen $1,000 nonprofit prizes designed to engage givers based on set criteria ranging from random selection to most funds in its size category (so event the little guy has an equal shot) to the most unique donors in its size category.
The entry level gift size of $10 is important to note.
“We wanted to set the entry level gift very low to point out that everyone can be a philanthropist and when we give together, we can make huge things happen,” Harris said.
In its third year, Give More 24! continues to grow. This year, the Vancouver Mall is sponsoring a lounge that begins with family-friendly crafts and activities replete with superheroes and princesses, according to Harris. At 4 p.m. the adults let loose with beer and cider tastings and a variety show hosted by Hello Vancouver! featuring game show antics and live music.
Vancouver Breweries Unite 4 Give More 24! descends on Kiggins Theatre from 5 to 10 p.m. Harris shared that Great Western Malting and 10 Vancouver breweries are joining forces to raise money for their favorite nonprofits including Boomerang, Council for the Homeless, Evergreen Habitat for Humanity, Hough Foundation and St. Vincent de Paul.
Battle Ground’s Mill Creek Pub is also hosting an all-day event.
David Bilby, founder of GoodBean, said “From a business side I think it’s brilliant because he’s opening up his lounge and calling it the ‘Giving Lounge.’ You can go talk to people that are part of the area nonprofits and then decide to give or not and then have a beer at the same time.”
In total, 128 nonprofits are participating in Give More 24! this year. Harris said that CFSWW organizes training sessions, they get to know each other and several of them collaborate together to leverage strengths and resources.
To quantify growth, Give More 24! raised just over $425,000 for 105 nonprofits in its sophomore year of 2014. Last year brought an impressive $695,000.
Harris said that one of the ways businesses are getting involved is in-kind services and figuring out ways they currently operate that can align with what Give More 24! is trying to do. An example is Riverview Community Bank sending out statement letters to their clients at all 14 branches with an ad for Give More 24! and distributing information cards at each location.
Another form of company engagement is found in the example of First Pacific Financial, founded by Todd Engblom-Stryker. Playing off the popular Minute to Win It game show, employees stepped up to hourly challenges in 2015 and donated the winning money to worthy charities.
“Todd decided to give X amount of dollars to the campaign and he said ‘but I want to give it in a creative way’ so I divided that number by an eight hour work day and, every hour, set up a Minute to Win It challenge,” explained Jennifer Huffman, customer service representative for First Pacific. “If you were the employee who won the challenge, you got to choose a charity for that hour that the money went to. It was so much fun. People got really competitive because they wanted to give money to their charity.”
“If you look at charitable giving analysis, private small donations are greater than public, large donations,” said Harris. “[Give More 24!] allows the nonprofit sector to come together as one.”
For more information, visit www.give-more-24.org.
