VANCOUVER — The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington will host the fourth annual Give More 24! event on Thu., Sept. 21 beginning at 12 a.m.
The Give More 24! event is a 24-hour period of online donations that helps boost community giving to local charities. According to Maury Harris, marketing and communications specialist for the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, the event is intended to highlight local nonprofits.
“We believe that giving local is some of the most impactful giving you can do,” Harris said.
The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington began the Give More 24! event four years ago in partnership with area nonprofits to “grow philanthropy in southwest Washington,” Harris said. According to Harris, part of the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington’s mission is to inspire giving and help bring about a “vibrant and engaged community.”
The online event helps inspire people to give to local nonprofits, Harris said.
Unlike donating to nonprofits throughout the year, the Give More 24! event provides extra motivation for people to donate in its 24-hour period. Harris said that the event actually helps individuals donate more through match dollars and a stretch pool.
Some of the charitable organizations participating in the event have secured matching sponsors, who set an amount to match, and will equal donations given up to that amount. This year’s event already has over $250,000 in matching funds, Harris said.
In addition to matching funds, the Give More 24! campaign attracts donations through a stretch pool. The stretch pool is a “performance based incentive,” Harris said, where extra money is donated to nonprofits based on how much the individual charity raised and the total amount of money raised during the Give More 24! event.
In addition to the actual donations received, the event features prizes for charities to win. Prizes are derived from the amount of donations within a specific time period, or based on random drawings during parts of the day. According to Harris, winning nonprofits will receive an extra $1000. Some prizes are offered to nonprofits based on size categories as well as donations.
Harris said that the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington sends out notices to area nonprofits about the Give More 24! event earlier in the year. He said that the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington provides two days of training for the nonprofits to allow them to run their own donation campaign alongside the Give More 24! campaign.
Each nonprofit has to pay a small entry fee, Harris said, to make sure they have “a little bit of skin in the game.” He also said that all participating nonprofits must be verified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.
Organizations participating in the event come from Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties, with a few organizations based in Multnomah county that serve Washington residents.
In the past, Harris said that donations were received from 41 states and several other countries as well. Because the event revolves around online donations, Harris said that participants can see a running tally of donations given throughout the day.
In addition to the online Give More 24! event, Harris said that there are a number of events being held leading up to Sept. 21 and on the day of the fundraiser as well. Various local restaurants and coffee shops have donation drives on Sept. 21. Outdoor activities will also be available at various locations throughout southwest Washington to get people involved in the Give More 24! campaign. A full list of the events can be found online at https://give-more-24.org/events.
Harris said that the 24 hour campaign allows donors to “be a part of something that’s larger than just yourself.” Last year, the Give More 24! campaign raised approximately $920,000 for charities, and this year Harris said the goal is to reach $1 million in donations.
The charities available through the event include those related to “animals, arts and culture, community improvement, education, environment, health, housing, hunger, social services and youth development,” according to a press release from the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. There are approximately 132 charities participating in the 2017 Give More 24! event, Harris said.
The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington was founded to create endowments that helped address some of the greatest needs in the community, Harris said. The organization operates community endowment funds that accept donations all year, and also works with donors with larger sums of money by providing charitable funds to distribute money.
For more information about the Give More 24! campaign, including a list of events and charities, visit https://give-more-24.org/.
