Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2017

$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

Giving eCards and Kid-Friendly Profiles Help Include Kids in Giving

By Dana Rinderknecht, Director of Online Giving Last year, Community First Foundation expanded our online giving platform to include a site especially for Kids – KidsforColoradoGives.org. All donations through this site are made with ColoradoGives Giving eCards. These are electronic gift cards that can be purchased on ColoradoGives.org and used to donate to nonprofits featured on either ColoradoGives.org or KidsforColoradoGives.org. We especially recommend purchasing several eCards and sending them to your favorite kid or kids. The kids can then go to KidsforColoradoGives.org and check out kid-friendly profiles to choose nonprofits to support. Along with introducing the new ColoradoGives website this year, we asked nonprofit to create kid-friendly profiles on KidsforColoradoGives.org to forward our goal of introducing the younger generation to giving. Each participating nonprofit answered four key questions and added at least one photo and one video to help kids understand how

One for the History Books

Kayla Arnesen, Director of Strategic Communications August 15th. It is a Big Day . Plenty of historical events have happened on August 15. In 1947, India became independent from British rule. In 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair opened its doors to participants and spectators. In 1973, US involvement in Vietnam ended. Today, we’re adding one more observance to the list: the redesigned ColoradoGives.org is launched and ready for visitors! The new, improved giving website is designed to make online giving easier and more fun! Of course, ColoradoGives.org will continue to provide comprehensive, objective and up-to-date information about Colorado nonprofits. But now, it also features fresh photos and graphics, improved functionality and donor-inspired navigation. If you are a parent or grandparent, get together with the kiddos you care about and visit KidsforColoradoGives.org . The website is a kid-friendly component of ColoradoGives.org that connects the next g

Donor-Advised Funds: What You Need to Know Before Colorado Gives Day!

Vickie Wilson, Vice President of Development Donor-advised funds have rapidly grown into an $8 billion market. As year-end fast approaches, some of your donors may want to consider establishing a fund. Community First Foundation encourages you to learn the facts about how donor-advised funds work and how they can best serve your donors and support your organization. Donor-advised funds were introduced back in the 1930s as a tool for community foundations to increase philanthropy, but it was not until 1969 that Congress and the IRS legally formalized their structure. By the early 1990’s, commercial providers such as Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, and Vanguard Charitable had entered the market.  Since then, donor-advised funds have grown in visibility and popularity to become one of the country’s fastest growing philanthropic vehicles. For community foundations, donor-advised funds serve to engage donors and nurture greater charitable activity in the community. Donor-ad

How ColoradoGives.org Users Are Kind of Like Wonder Woman

Lisa Lujan, Online Giving Coordinator I have a confession: I really liked Wonder Woman when I was growing up. Not the super cool Wonder Woman you see now, I’m talking the spinning, stiletto wearing, cheesy music, 1970s Wonder Woman T.V. series starring Lynda Carter. My brother, sister and I would run home to watch it, big 1970s glasses and all. Then we would pretend that just like Diana Prince – Wonder Woman’s alias – we too could fight injustice with our lasso of truth, shield bracelets and boomerang-like tiara. One of the best parts about Wonder Woman is she’s reliable. She’s there to help human kind no matter what. In that way, ColoradoGives.org and its users are kind of like Wonder Woman. For the last 10 years, ColoradoGives.org has served as the online giving resource for givers and do-ers throughout our great state. Just like the way Wonder Woman uses her powers for the good of humanity, ColoradoGives.org serves as a resource to fuel the power of community for the

The 12th Man

Bryce Wilkinson, Senior Online Giving Specialist The crowd could sense the opportunity, and they rose to their feet to chant and clap in unison. The 11 players out on the pitch heard their supporters and felt the energy, the power. That boost sent them forward, and soon the ball was in the back of the net, triggering deafening celebration. The crowd, the 12th man, had done their part in the stadium. Dick's Sporting Goods Park is home to the Colorado Rapids soccer team. Before I started attending soccer matches, I was skeptical of this notion of the 12th man. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, it is the idea that the crowd, through its support and energy, can act as another player on the pitch – a 12th man – for the team. Since becoming a supporter, I’ve witnessed the role the crowd plays and they can truly be a deciding factor. The 12th man is more critical than the term might imply. Without them, the stadium, no matter how nice, is dull and empty. Without them, th

10 Years of Giving Where You Live

Angela Bevacqua, Senior Communications Specialist Give Where You Live. I love this catchy phrase because it distills a compelling message into just four short words. We use this message to get people thinking about their communities and what they love about them. At Community First Foundation we’re celebrating the 10th Anniversary of local giving through ColoradoGives.org . This online giving website has facilitated more than $200 million in donations in the last ten years. Nonprofits in every county of the state have benefitted from Coloradans heeding the call, “Give where you live.” Learning about the troubles around the world can be overwhelming. But I know I can do something in my own small world, in my own small way. For me that means teaching English as a Second Language and donating to arts and environmental organizations in my town. My favorite arts organizations are those that open a window to other cultures and perspectives through theater and film. As part of o

10 Years of Online Giving

Samantha Barlow, Communications Coordinator The staff at Community First Foundation  enjoyed this delicious lemon cake for our 10 th Anniversary of ColoradoGives kickoff party. Yes, it’s been 10 years since we launched the online giving site with just 60 nonprofits profiled. Thanks to impressive community engagement, the site now features more than 2,000 organizations. Ten years ago, people were just starting to dip their toes into online banking and financial transactions. Creating this site helped us strengthen organizations that didn’t have the resources to accept online donations. With no setup or monthly maintenance fees, ColoradoGives.org is very affordable. The only fee – two percent – is used to cover third-party vendor charges for credit card and electronic check processing. The 10 th Anniversary of ColoradoGives.org marks an incredible milestone. ColoradoGives.org has powered over $200 million in donations to more than 2,000 nonprofits since its incept

Success on Colorado Gives Day – Estes Medical Center Foundation’s Secret Sauce

Kevin L. Mullin, MNM, CFRE, Executive Director of Estes Park Medical Center Foundation On Colorado Gives Day 2016, Estes Medical Center Foundation experienced a 250 percent increase in dollars raised over the previous year. With a new executive director from out of town and only one staff member, how did they do it? Executive Director Kevin Mullin shares the “secret sauce”… Like many organizations, the Estes Park Medical Center Foundation (EPMC Foundation) is always looking for ways to increase donations for Colorado Gives Day . In the robust nonprofit community in Colorado, there are many groups doing important work and often vying for the same philanthropic dollars. In order to succeed in 2016, we knew we needed to give donors a compelling case for support and to engage more prospects. The Estes Valley is comprised of people who are not unfamiliar with adversity. Fires, floods, impassible roads and other calamities seem to befall the area on a regular basis. The good

Know Your Data, Know Your Donors

Lisa Lujan, Online Giving Coordinator My heart sank as I read the thank you letter. It was addressed to me, when I had hoped it would be addressed to my four-year-old who had specifically chosen an organization as  “her” nonprofit to give to on Colorado Gives Day . I had even left details in the special instructions section detailing my daughter’s involvement and her name. She would’ve been so excited to get mail addressed specifically to and thanking her! Talk about a great opportunity to begin a life-long relationship. Alas, that is not what happened. Which brings me to the point of this blog: do you know your donors’ data? The ColoradoGives program at Community First Foundation has declared 2017 “The Year of Thanking Donors.” You can take donor appreciation to the next level by intimately understanding every donation you receive. In the Donation Information section of your ColoradoGives profile, you can pull an Excel report 45 columns worth of  information. Here are the section

Classmates, Kittens and Kids for ColoradoGives

Samantha Barlow, Communications Coordinator When nine-year-old Jenna received a $20 Giving eCard to use on KidsforColoradoGives.org , she did something remarkable. Rather than donate this money straightaway, she took it to her school so her classmates could join her in experiencing the joy of giving. “We had a lot of fun,” said Jenna. “We learned about all the charities around here in Colorado. We had no idea there were so many!” Jenna received the Giving eCard from a Community First Foundation board member, Janet Heck Doyle. The Foundation recently launched KidsforColoradoGives.org , an online giving site for kids. “I thought a lot about who to give the eCard to since I don’t have young kids,” said Janet. “I knew Jenna from the Rotary Club and thought, ‘What better way to use this than to introduce her family to the site?’ Little did I know it would mean introducing a whole classroom to KidsforColoradoGives.org.” KidsforColoradoGives.org is a kid-friendly c

Meeting Space Celebrity Sighting: Natalie Portman

Valerie Brown, Meeting Space Administrator I met Natalie Portman in the Community First Foundation Meeting Space yesterday. Natalie Portman (L) and Valerie Brown in the Foundation's free Meeting Space Okay, not the Natalie Portman of Star Wars , V for Vendetta and Black Swan . This Natalie Portman is a top-notch meeting facilitator who was working with a group advancing Mental Health First Aid in Jefferson County. Led by Jefferson Center for Mental Health, the group met in our largest meeting room to discuss training community members on how to identify persons who may benefit from mental health resources. Jefferson Center for Mental Health is one of the dizzying array of nonprofits to have come through our doors since we opened the Meeting Space a year ago! February 2016 saw one meeting lasting four hours with six people. February 2017 saw 37 meetings for a total of 250 hours with 799 people through the door! In fact, in the first year we have hosted 269 mee

Kids for ColoradoGives Sparks a New Tradition for Our Family

By Chic Naumer, CEO, CiviCore Our family tradition is to gather around the computer and participate in Colorado Gives Day — the online, 24 hour day of giving  —   together. This past year was different...in a great way. Our two daughters, Stella and Claire, donated through the new KidsforColoradoGives.org website, the kid-friendly sister site of ColoradoGives.org . We gave Stella and Claire a budget and emailed each of them a Giving eCard to use on the kid site. They loved the autonomy of spending “their own money” and excitedly began planning how many organizations they wanted to give to and how much money they would have for each. They dove into the process of researching causes and organizations. Stella, age 10, is interested in environmental and animal issues. Claire, age nine, is interested in helping people with disabilities and is a big supporter of the Anchor Center for Blind Children. They each spent an hour reading the profiles about different organizations an

A Newbie’s Quick Guide to ColoradoGives Enrollment

By Lisa Lujan, Online Giving Coordinator You’ve always wanted your nonprofit to participate, but it just hasn’t worked out before. Well, this is your chance! It is that time of year again, ColoradoGives.org enrollment time, from March 1 – July 31. Nervous about the process? No need to be! This quick guide gives you an overview in three steps. (If you’re a details person, check out our Overview of Process to Create a Profile . ) Visit the ColoradoGives.org Enrollment Page . Here you’ll learn several key pieces of information; it’s important to not skim this page. Really dig into the weeds and read the details. One of the key pieces of content is a listing of the Intro Session dates. You must sign up for one of these webinars in order to participate in the program, so be sure to get it on your calendar ASAP. The first Intro Session is March 14 at 9 a.m. and the last is July 31, 2017 at 3 p.m. Another key piece of content on the Enrollment Page is our Eligibility Requir

The Magic of Marketing

By Kayla Arnesen, Director of Marketing & Strategic Communications Last December, did you tweet about #COGivesDay? Did you post a yard sign? Did you share a ColoradoGives news story with a friend? If you did, then thank you for being part of Colorado Gives Day’s marketing magic! Colorado Gives Day is more than just a day, it’s a statewide movement to inspire giving. One of the greatest benefits of being a ColoradoGives nonprofit in December is being able to market your organization as part of the state’s largest day of giving. At Community First Foundation, the marketing and communications team worked to elevate excitement for Colorado Gives Day to a fever pitch leading up to December 6, 2016. The results were outstanding: generous donors gave $33.8 million to more than 2,000 nonprofits on ColoradoGives.org . We wanted to share a few fun highlights! Media relations and community outreach from August to December 2016 resulted in: 759 news stories for a total pot

The Year of Thanking Donors

By Dana Rinderknecht, Director of Online Giving I spend a great deal of time talking to nonprofits and donors; it is the best part of my job. Telling complete strangers what I do can result in some truly amazing stories about why they donate on Colorado Gives Day. My favorite was the donor who told me she thought it should be a national holiday! My least favorite thing is to hear from donors who love giving, but then never receive a thank you from the organization. We need to celebrate and appreciate these donors who take the time to go to ColoradoGives.org, search for their favorite nonprofits and make a gift. Community First Foundation sends each donor their receipt, but it is still the responsibility of individual nonprofits to thank these donors. It is the nonprofit’s responsibility to cultivate relationships with donors to turn them into long-term supporters. As we move into 2017, let’s all set the goal of making this the year of thanking donors. The #GivingTuesday mo