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VOLUME 38 • NUMBER 52 • NOVEMBER 19, 2020
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Colorado Gives Day shows us the best of who we are SUBMITTED BY STACEY BAUM
With an unprecedented and often painfully dark year edging to a close, even those struggling themselves look around in search of a way to provide light to non-profit organizations that could really use it. Each year there is one day that perhaps represents the best of Colorado and highlights the spirit of who we are. That day is Colorado Gives Day, an annual celebration of giving powered by ColoradoGives.org. Last year, this one focused day of giving saw 60,000 donors provide $40 million of support to 2,610 non-profit organizations. This impressive movement began in 2007. The Community First Foundation, dedicated to increasing generosity in the Denver area, launched the GivingFirst.org website. That inaugural year saw
1,590 donors give $683,000. According to The Community First Foundation, early on they recognized that donors were drawn to the easy way to spread out gifts, while nonprofits liked the reliable income, reduced internal paperwork, and additional opportunities for building relationships. Within just a couple of years, the now more familiar ColoradoGives brand was born. At the time, there was a study that placed Colorado towards the bottom of the giving list. Director of Online Giving at Community First Foundation, Dana Rinderknecht, who has been a part of this movement since day one, says they just didn’t believe that. That is not what they were seeing. Fast forward to today and Colorado Gives Day is listed as the second largest Gives Day in the country.
Many people ask why donate through ColoradoGive.org as opposed to going through your favorite charities’ website on this day? One answer is the $1 million Incentive Fund. This year’s fund is made possible by both the Community First Foundation and FirstBank. Every non-profit that
receives a donation on Colorado Gives Day will receive a portion of the fund, increasing impact and the value of every dollar donated. “FirstBank has been an incredible partner from the very beginning,” says Rinderknecht. “They were always very philanthropic but wanted to do even more.” Today, FirstBank and the Community
First Foundation each provide half a million dollars to the Incentive Fund. And, for the first year ever, the Community First Foundation is asking for more sponsors. They want the Incentive Fund to grow and see it as a great opportunity to give back to the community. So how does the non-profit community feel about this designated day of giving? Mary Fran Tharp, the executive director at Boys Hope Girls Hope Colorado says, “Colorado Gives Day celebrates all the good work happening in Colorado. By focusing people’s generosity on one day, non-profits throughout Colorado benefit in a bigger way.” She goes on to explain, “Not only is there a benefit because of the Incentive Fund, but many non-profits are also having virtual parties or receiving additional matches them-
selves. In the case of Boys Hope Girls Hope Colorado, all donations to us will be enhanced with the Incentive Fund, but they’ll also be matched up to $20,000! That’s incredible motivation for our supporters to give on Colorado Gives Day.” The Community First Foundation is expecting a big day of giving come December 8th. Through the end of October, Coloradans had already donated $13,000,000 through ColoradoGives.org to help non-profits that needed it throughout the year. If that is any indication of how Colorado Gives Day will go, perhaps even amid hardship this will be another record-breaking year for Colorado. Tharp may have put it best when she said, “In this most difficult year, the people of Colorado have renewed my faith in people’s kindness and generosity.”
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