by Nicole Acosta | Apr 29, 2015 | Blog Thoughs, by Amy Owen, GiveChoose
I just spent 20 minutes on the Community Foundation’s Twitter and Facebook pages re-posting all recent social media posts from our GiveChoose charities. Is it good use of my time? Heck. Its not just time. The Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties has invested a fair $ amount in GiveChoose, set for this next Tuesday. Its a 24-hour charitable crowdfunding event for almost 50 local charities that starts at 12:01 AM on Tuesday May 5th. Check out the giving portal at GiveChoose.org. One more fad, you say? The best thing since sliced bread, maybe? Really, its somewhere in between. But, here are some of the meaningful details. Online fundraising is the fastest growing form of new income for charities. They need to be proficient at it. (We launched the program earlier this year with a half-day training program for all charities.) Its fantastically cost effective–no paper or postage, and design is typically an in-house creative moment. In our first year of GiveChoose (last year), 44% of all donors were First Time Donors to the charity they gave to. That’s awesome stuff. And, finally, it builds community — a connection between businesses (Toth Financial, Alpha Graphics, Backflow Technology, Middleburg Bank, and Alpha Graphics, a private foundation, and others), that, together, created a Prize Pool of gifts to incentivize giving during the 24 hours. There’s nothing quite like winning a prize. Charities get too few of them. It builds community among charities, as they row together to inspire giving here at home. And, it builds community as our local households see that remarkable array of local charities, doing remarkable things, helping...
by Nicole Acosta | Apr 26, 2015 | by Amy Owen
The Community Foundation was part of three very different evening meetings this past week. Each gathering depended on strong partnerships from our community. Tuesday was a convening among dozens of charities willing to suss out ideas to help local citizens move from Food Insecurity to Food Security. One can expect our food pantry and backpack program leaders to show up for that topic, right? The invitation was also answered by groups who work with the same patrons: Loudoun Abused Women Shelter , Loudoun Literacy, Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers, Crossroads Jobs, and Loudoun Cares, to name a few. I applaud the breadth and scope of these caring groups willing to come together, to think, and share, and work toward community improvement. On Wednesday, I joined the annual announcement of grantees from the 100 WomenStrong giving circle. This distinguished group of local philanthropists made grants totaling $113,000 this year, to ten charities carefully selected for their work in hunger, education, shelter, and health. It was an evening of joy. Thursday night? A sparkling new partnership with a sister community foundation, Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. Together, the Loudoun Impact Fund and its donors (each who tithe in $1,000 per person, or $5,000 per business) will build a local grant making pool to help youth and elderly. This pool of funds, expected to approach $50,000, will offer substantive and meaningful impact to grantee charities. Boom! As Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so...
by Nicole Acosta | Apr 6, 2015 | GiveChoose
GiveChoose Prize Schedule 2015 For our charities: these timeframes may be very helpful in energizing your donors. Donors: making a gift during these peak periods will help your favorite charities win bonus prizes during GiveChoose. Thanks, too, to our latest Prize Pool Sponsor Toth Financial...
