Skip to main content

GivingFirst.org: Fast and Furious Growth

By Angela Bevacqua, Senior Communications Specialist
We are just under one month away until Colorado Gives Day, and the energy at Community First Foundation is frenetic!

Dana, our GivingFirst manager, has been sequestered in her office, reviewing and approving hundreds of nonprofits who are joining the site since September. She juggles approving the profiles while answering lots of calls and emails each day. (Stay tuned to this blog for the final number of nonprofits participating in CO Gives Day!)

Bryce, our project coordinator, is pouring over nonprofit documents that need to be in order before a new profile goes live.




Caitlin, our new communications manager, is a blur as she darts through the office, getting incredible media coverage lined up for the weeks leading up to the big day.

I am fielding numerous emails about marketing tools and planning for a January Colorado Gives Day celebration for nonprofit participants (details TBA)-- where High Five prize winners will be announced. Our leadership is successfully signing up Bonus Bucks sponsors and, truly, every one of our 13 staff members have a hand in Colorado Gives Day.

Although Colorado Gives Day drives hundreds of new nonprofits to join GivingFirst.org, the site has been growing fast and furiously all on its own merits.

Here’s what we’re seeing with online donations this year:

·         More than 800 nonprofits are joining GivingFirst.org, up from 540 last year

·         Donations are up 82 percent this year, and stood at $2.2 million as of October 31, 2011.

·         More than 18,700 donations have been processed through GivingFirst through October 31, 2011, up 108 percent.

·         In October alone, we've processed $380,000 in donations through GivingFirst compared to $216,000 last year

Stay tuned!


Comments

  1. Center for Urban Connections at Metro State College of DenverNovember 15, 2011 at 10:19 AM

    Spreading the word on the Metro State campus about Colorado Gives Day 2011! Check out our current blog post: http://mscdurbanconnect.blogspot.com/2011/11/colorado-gives-day-2011.html

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog 1: Tips on How to Read Form 990

By Angela Bevacqua, Senior Communications Specialist Have you ever been advised to look at a nonprofit’s Form 990 before making a donation? Then you look at it and wonder how to make sense of it all? If you aren’t an accountant or nonprofit administrator, you may avoid the daunting task. On our online giving website ColoradoGives.org, we require nonprofits to provide several documents, including the Form 990 as appropriate, to encourage transparency about their programs and finances. We don’t evaluate nonprofits on the website; we require nonprofits to share information to help donors make informed decisions about giving. I asked Community First Foundation’s finance department to help us interpret this useful document. We will do this in two blogs: Blog 1 shares the basics of Form 990 and Blog 2 delves deeper.  Q: What exactly is the Form 990? Form 990, called the Return of Organizations Exempt From Income Tax, must be filed with the IRS each year by charitable organization
1 comment
Read more

$36.1 million raised on Colorado Gives Day!

Marla J. Williams, president and CEO, Community First Foundation Thank you, Colorado! I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on another year of extraordinary giving. As you know, earlier this week on Colorado Gives Day  people from across our state and around the country opened their hearts to give. Their generosity resulted in $36,129,285 million in donations to 2,309 Colorado nonprofit organizations. This record-breaking amount surpassed last year’s Colorado Gives Day total, which raised an impressive $33.8 million. Since its debut in 2010, Colorado Gives Day has raised more than $181 million for Colorado nonprofits. One thing is clear: generous donors and the nonprofits that inspire them are the heart of Colorado Gives Day. Although Community First Foundation provides the giving platform, participating nonprofits have taken ownership of this event and spread the word far and wide, which is the main Colorado Gives Day success story. Through your efforts every year, mo
Post a Comment
Read more

FirstBank Sets $100,000 Aside for Nonprofit Prizes on Colorado Gives Day

By Lisa Adams, FirstBank FirstBank has been a proud supporter of Colorado Gives Day , the state’s largest online giving movement, since its launch in 2010. Everyone at FirstBank is passionate about the initiative and honored to give back to the local communities that have helped us grow and succeed. Each year, we provide more than $600,000 in support for ColoradoGives, including $100,000 that goes straight to nonprofit organizations through several fun prize programs: "Why Colorado Gives” Social Media Prizes ($1,000 each) From Monday, November 30, through Friday, December 4, FirstBank Facebook fans will have a chance to win one of fifteen $1,000 cash prizes to donate to the Colorado Gives charity of their choice. To qualify, fans will have to post a photo or video to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram about why they give. When posting your photo on Facebook make sure the privacy settings are set to public so Community First Foundation & FirstBank can view it. Posts
2 comments
Read more