ColoradoGives.org

By Bryce Wilkinson,  Senior Online Giving Specialist, Community First Foundation Bryce Wilkinson History Impermanence. Everything we encounter is subject to change. It’s one common aspect of conditioned existence and our site is no exception. When Community First Foundation launched an online giving tool in May 2007, we decided to call it GivingFirst.org. The site was initially focused on nonprofits in the seven county Denver metro area, and by December 2007 it had 173 nonprofits listed on it. As more nonprofits expressed an interest in joining, we started to expand our geographic eligibility requirements, and by the end of 2012 GivingFirst.org featured 1,258 nonprofits from across Colorado. Since the site had expanded well beyond its initial stages in many ways, we started to reflect on the site’s name and whether it still represented what the site had become and was continuing to evolve into; namely, a place for all Coloradans to learn about and support the local nonprofi...

By Lisa Lujan, Online Giving Coordinator, Community First Foundation Did you know that you can maximize your success on Colorado Gives Day or any day with our ColoradoGives Fundraising Pages campaign tool? Fundraising Pages can be used by your supporters to raise money for your organization by creating their own fundraising page and sending it out to their network. Take, for example, Beka Wilson who recently shared her organization’s ( Conservation Colorado ) success on Colorado Gives Day in our most recent webinar,  Maximizing Success with Fundraising Pages . Of the many tips Beka shared, here are some of the highlights: Make it easy for your supporters to fundraise for your organization by creating templates for them to use (such as letters, emails and posts for social media) to promote their page. Ask a volunteer or intern to create Fundraising Pages for board or staff members who would like to support your organization but may not have the time to cre...

By Angela Bevacqua, Senior Communications Specialist, Community First Foundation It was a big “gong” moment at our office when we learned that we were named Outstanding Foundation this year for National Philanthropy Day  - Colorado. We keep a large gong in the center of our office which is used to gather the troops for exciting announcements. We drop everything and run towards the sound of the gong. National Philanthropy Day is a special day set aside nationwide each November to recognize the people and organizations who donate their time, talent, and financial resources to worthy causes. Twelve individuals and organizations will be honored this November in Denver, including FirstBank—our Colorado Gives Day corporate partner. We are in great company.    And the honorees are: • Outstanding Large Business: FirstBank Holding Company (Lakewood) • Outstanding Small Business: Snooze, An A.M. Eatery (Denver) • Outstanding Foundation: Commun...

  By Angela Bevacqua Senior Communications Specialist Community First Foundation Did you know that the average lifespan of a Facebook post is 3 hours? Julie Urlaub , a social media enthusiast at Taiga Company , shared this and other interesting stats during our recent Social Media for Social Good webinar for Colorado Gives Day. Julie was recently voted the 10th most influential sustainability voice on Twitter by The Guardian Sustainable Business , and she has a lot to share about the value and techniques for using social media to raise awareness and build a brand. Here are some quick takeaways from the webinar : Twitter The average tweet has a lifespan of 2 hours Posts with links increase engagement by as much as 92% Using hashtags like #cogivesday are a great way to see ALL the conversations about a specific topic—not just the ones posted on your own feed. Facebook The engagement ratio or “talking about this” metric is more important than your number...

By Angela Bevacqua, Sr. Communications Specialist Colorado Gives Day is approaching. Don’t know where to start? Want to make a great impression? Need a helping hand? These are some of the reasons every nonprofit participating in Colorado Gives Day should check out the Nonprofit Toolkit . Linked through the Colorado Gives Day landing page, the Toolkit has great resources to get your nonprofit up and running for the big day on December 10. Anyone can access the page—such as staff, volunteers, board members, vendors—who is working on the event. Make sure they know about it! Here are highlights of tools you should know about. Learn the Basics Intro Videos Everyone working on this event should watch the short Colorado Gives Day Key Facts video and read the FAQs for Nonprofits. Share with staff and board so they have a solid overview of Colorado Gives Day. Coming soon are videos on Best Practices and Fundraising Pages. FAQs for No...

By Dana Rinderknecht, Director of Online Giving, Community First Foundation I admit it. I loved School House Rock as a kid, especially the one where a bill becomes a law ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nKyihoV9z8 ). This year, thanks to the work of the Colorado Nonprofit Association and in collaboration with Mile High United Way, Community First Foundation was a part of passing a bill into a law. HB1190 became a law on May 3 rd , when Governor Hickenlooper signed it. Dana Rinderknecht What is HB1190? Well, according to the legislative website: … allowing a taxpayer to make a donation to an intermediary nonprofit organization for the Enterprise Zone Contribution Tax Credit What this means is that donors can make donations via a nonprofit such as Mile High United Way or ColoradoGives.org to pre-approved Enterprise Zone organizations.  Donors then receive the additional tax credit available. The process to pass a bill was almost exactly like they talk about i...

By Angela Bevacqua, Senior Communications Specialist, Community First Foundation Time to Update During open enrollment each year—from March to August—we remind nonprofits featured on ColoradoGives.org (formerly GivingFirst.org) that it’s time to update their profiles. We ask you to do this annually so donors know that the info shared on the site is current and reliable. And we have a handy dandy guide to help you know what to update, along with suggestions on when to do it. Required updates include noting changes to your management, financials, and programs. Content & Presentation: Both are Important Short, concise appeal. Content is the meat-and-potatoes of your ColoradoGives profile, but presentation is important, too. Many people come to ColoradoGives.org to “shop” for a nonprofit to support, especially on Colorado Gives Day. Your profile is like a digital brochure; you need to give it the same amount of attention you’d give a printed piece. Here are some tips for b...