Local Nonprofits Gear up for the 2018 Giving Challenge
SARASOTA, FL – Across our region, more than 630 local nonprofit organizations from Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties are gearing up to participate in the 2018 Giving Challenge, presented by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Starting on May 1st at noon, the exciting online 24-hour “give day” allows everyone in our community the opportunity to support the local nonprofits they love and have their donations matched dollar for dollar, up to $100 per donor for each organization they give to, thanks to support from The Patterson Foundation.
For the past few months, nonprofits have worked on fundraising plans, communications campaigns, and planned events around the Giving Challenge in order to leverage the opportunity to generate unrestricted funding and develop relationships with new donors.
Unrestricted funding can be hard to come by—nonprofits need it to operate effectively. By investing dollars into our community through local nonprofits, those who contribute during the Giving Challenge have demonstrated their passion for our region and added a vote of confidence for the impact that our organizations are achieving. Funds from the past five Giving Challenges have gone on to ensure that vulnerable families will be able to stay in their homes and have food on their table; seniors and veterans will get the vital care they need; students will have a greater array of cultural and scientific explorations to spark their curiosity; the natural beauty of our land and gulf will be preserved; and thousands of sheltered animals will get to find a loving home.
Since 2012, donors from throughout our region have shown their love for local nonprofit organizations by providing more than $28 million in unrestricted funding to support their missions through the Giving Challenge. The 2016 Giving Challenge set a new standard for generosity in our community, when more than $13.4 million was raised in just 24 hours to benefit more than 559 nonprofits listed on The Giving Partner.
This year, The Patterson Foundation is incentivizing donations with a 1:1 match for each unique online donor’s contributions – up to $100 per donor, per organization – with no limit to the number of individual matches a nonprofit can receive. This opportunity encourages organizations to engage new online donors as well as loyal returning supporters during this year’s event. Since 2012, The Patterson Foundation has provided more than $11.9 million for the Giving Challenge to date through matching donations and other donor incentives.
The local participating nonprofits, all of which have demonstrated transparency with published and up-to-date profiles in The Giving Partner, can also earn their share of $260,000 in grant prizes. Prizes will be awarded in categories including most unique donors, best giving challenge video and event, best nonprofit-nonprofit partnership, best nonprofit-business partnership, best overall campaigns, and many more.
Donations are tax-deductible. Anyone who wishes to give during the challenge can make a secure donation (minimum gift is $25) by debit or credit card at www.givingpartnerchallenge.org.
The 2018 Giving Challenge is presented by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County with giving strengthened by The Patterson Foundation.
About the Giving Partner
- The Giving Partner is a partnership of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Manatee Community Foundation and The Patterson Foundation.
- The Giving Partner currently shares in-depth information on more than 650 nonprofits.
- The purpose of the online tool, found at www.thegivingpartner.org, is to help donors, businesses, institutional funders like foundations, local governments and citizen philanthropists learn more about the causes they care about and access information about organizations based on what is most important to them.
- There is no cost, user name or password required to use The Giving Partner.
About the Community Foundation: The Community Foundation is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. With assets of over $333 million in more than 1,400 charitable funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling more than $33 million dollars this past year in the areas of education, health and human services, the arts, animal welfare, and the environment. Since our founding, more than $217 million has been invested back into the community through grants and scholarships. For more information, visit www.CFSarasota.org.
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