Colorado Gives Day

If you've had the radio or TV on in the past couple of weeks, chances are you've heard about Colorado Gives Day.  It's a day that we, and many other Colorado non-profits, are so excited about! Read below for Denver Post journalist, Kristen Leigh Painter's summary of this on-line fundraising event. 

"Tuesday's Colorado Gives Day might be considered the blitzkrieg of do-good, online giving.  Designed to make philanthropy competitive and to make charitable donations skyrocket, the event harnesses grassroots efforts, a sense of urgency and social-media marketing.

Beginning at midnight tonight, people are encouraged visit GivingFirst.org and donate money to Colorado nonprofits before the clock strikes midnight Tuesday.  The Colorado event is among a handful nationwide.
This new trend in fundraising attempts to motivate giving through a single, concerted effort. It has gained traction during the recession and post-recession years as corporate contributions have declined.

The goal of last year's inaugural event, organized by the Arvada-based Community First Foundation, was to raise $1 million. The tally hit $8.4 million with gifts from 12,540 individuals.

"The folks here just thought there was a real need to increase the philanthropy since the economy was so bad," said Caitlin Jenney, spokeswoman for the foundation. "The generosity of Coloradans exceeded our expectations."

The second annual event has more than 900 area organizations and charities participating, up from 539 last year. 
"The whole point was to inspire and unite in supporting local nonprofits. Everyone's online these days," Jenney said.  Jenney said young adults are among the prime targets. The website is a one-stop shop that encourages transparency, with financial statements, descriptions and bar graphs.  The participating nonprofits compete against each other for prizes.

FirstBank is giving $500,000 as the event's corporate sponsor, with $300,000 going to the Incentive Fund, which will be divided among the organizations based on the success of their fundraising Tuesday.  The remaining $200,000 will cover processing fees and new "High Five" and "Bonus Bucks" prizes for hitting benchmarks, such as high performance or impressive improvements." 

Last year, Food Bank of the Rockies was fortunate enough to raise over $80,000 as a result of this one day of fundraising!  We're hoping to bring our total up to $100,000 this year, so visit http://bit.ly/uEAsLY to make your donation!