Denise Sorom, Director of Philanthropy at the Community Foundation of North Central Washington
It was a long shot, a gamble—a Hail Mary even—but ultimately, a huge success. Last year’s Give NCW campaign was unlike any of its predecessors. Typically, this crowd-funding campaign promotes 25 nonprofit organizations that have received grants from the Community Foundation and asks the public to donate online to increase the amount of the grant awards. It runs from Thanksgiving through the end of the year and results have been steady: CFNCW usually puts in about $225,000 and the community usually contributes roughly same amount.
But 2020 was different. The unrestricted dollars that we normally use for Give NCW had already been committed to emergency Covid relief grants. We knew this community had already done so much charitable giving to respond to the pandemic and feared it may be too exhausted to give more. But nonprofits still needed help, so what were we going to do?
We decided to open the flood gates: We invited any nonprofit in Chelan, Douglas or Okanogan County to participate in Give NCW as long as they were in good standing with the IRS and had received at least one grant from us in the past. We did not have any grant money to seed their awards; we just said “y’all come” and we will see what happens.
The result was phenomenal. Sixty nonprofits participated in the campaign representing the arts, environment, education and health and human service organizations throughout the region. Our Trustees committed $90,000 to the campaign for matching challenges and this community stepped up as never before with an additional $471,189. The campaign raised a total of $561,189 for the 60 organizations – the highest amount ever raised through Give NCW!
So while we may have thrown that Hail Mary pass, it was you – our incredibly generous community – who caught it. Time and time again we are astounded by the generosity of the people of North Central Washington. Whether it is helping folks rebuild after wildfires, offering pandemic relief, or support for beleaguered healthcare workers, this community steps up to answer the call. Take for example, one donor who said of the experience of making donations through Give NCW: “I always look forward to Give NCW every year. It’s a great reminder, especially when things are tough, of how many wonderful people there are in our communities. I’m proud to contribute in the little ways that I can. It really is a wonderful program.” Or, another donor, “I really enjoyed watching the amounts increase for all the nonprofits. I also was amazed to see all the nonprofits out there that I had no idea existed, I probably would never have known about them if it were not for Give NCW.” Furthermore, 61% of people who participated in Give NCW said they gave more than they normally do and 38% said they gave to nonprofits that were new to them.
We have witnessed this generosity for the better part of 40 years at the Community Foundation and we realize we have something special here. The more opportunities we offer for people to give – to help their neighbors – the more they give. We send a huge thank you out to everyone who participated in the 2020 Give NCW campaign and we invite you to discover all the ways you can be part of this community of giving at www.cfncw.org.
Expect to see more “y’all come’s” in the future!
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