The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington is teaming up with more than 130 nonprofits in the area for a 48-hour fundraising campaign this week.
The Community Foundation — which has traditionally hosted a similar event, Give More 24! — is merging the event with a statewide nonprofit campaign, GiveBIG, which will begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and continue through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
“People gave during Give More 24! because they were passionate about an organization or cause,” said Janie Spurgeon, executive vice president and chief development officer of the foundation. “That feeling doesn’t change with the season, and now nonprofits need us to keep our support going strong on the second and third of May for GiveBIG.”
Maury Harris, senior communications officer for the foundation, said that when the Community Foundation started Give More 24! nine years ago, one of its main goals was to help nonprofits build their capacity for digital fundraising.
‘Completely blown away’
Last year, the campaign raised $3.6 million for Southwest Washington nonprofits, which led to the shift this year.
“We’ve just been completely blown away by the efforts that nonprofits are putting together. It kind of signaled that our goal has been achieved, and we really helped a lot of nonprofits build that capacity,” Harris said. “What they’re able to do now is to take those tools — that knowledge, experience — and compress that into events like GiveBIG and continue fundraising in bigger and better ways.”
Along with increased visibility and accessibility, Washington Gives — which hosts the fundraising event — allows people to donate to nonprofits all year. It also has donation-matching opportunities. According to Harris, this year’s GiveBIG event will likely see about $400,000 in matched donations to Southwest Washington nonprofits.
Last year, the statewide campaign brought in $14.6 million from more than 27,000 donors.
During the 48-hour campaign, donors have extra opportunities to support nonprofits. Donors who give at specific hours to certain organizations are eligible to have their donation boosted by organizations. For example, between noon and 3 p.m. Tuesday, Fibre Federal Credit Unit will randomly pick a Cowlitz County nonprofit to give an additional $500.
There will also be some in-person opportunities to give. Harris said Beaches Restaurant & Bar in Vancouver will donate half of a meal’s cost to a nonprofit if patrons mention the name of the organization.
The Columbia Play Project will host “play pop-up parties” on Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Clubs in Northwest Vancouver.
The participating nonprofits in Southwest Washington include A Caring Closet, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington, the Clark County Food Bank, Options360 Women’s Clinic, St. Vincent de Paul, and more than 130 others.
Nonprofits will remain on the GiveBIG website after Wednesday and will accept donations for the campaign up to a month after the event.
A complete list of participating nonprofits is available on the GiveBIG website.
