Online Giving Grows Statewide Thanks to Regional Champions

By Dana Rinderknecht, Director of Online Giving, Community First Foundation

With more than $81 million raised online in seven years, ColoradoGives.org and Colorado Gives Day are helping shape philanthropy in Colorado.

Online Giving has been concentrated in the Denver metro area until two years ago, when the Boettcher Foundation and the El Pomar Foundation came to us looking for a way to celebrate their 75th anniversaries while increasing charitable giving in Colorado. And that’s how the Regional Champion program was born.

ColoradoGives Regional Champions are primarily community foundations located throughout Colorado the have joined us to raise awareness and support for the nonprofits in their local communities through ColoradoGives and Colorado Gives Day. They use their local knowledge to adapt the programs to fit their particular area.

First to jump on board was the Northern Colorado Community Foundation in Fort Collins. Serving Larimer County communities such as Berthoud, Estes Park, Ft. Collins and Loveland, they have done a great job of rallying nonprofits in their area and getting local support for Colorado Gives Day. This year their goal is to raise $1 million for the nonprofits on NoCoGives.org.

The next Regional Champion was a coalition of nonprofits in Eagle County called Eagle County Gives. They started their group after the first Colorado Gives Day but this allowed them to formalize the work they are doing not just around promoting Colorado Gives Day but also on being better fundraisers. It has been fun to see the amazing phenomena they have created in their area.
ofits in Eagle County called

More recently we added the Culture of Giving campaign (through the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County), Yampa Valley Gives (Yampa Valley Community Foundation working with Leadership Steamboat) and Douglas County Gives (Douglas County Community Foundation and the collaboration called Douglas County Gives).

As we approach our fifth Colorado Gives Day, it has been so much fun to see what these groups are doing in their respective areas. Learn more about this program and visit their web pages.

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