Community Foundation Aims To Top $5 Million With Great Community Give
GIVING BACK
Community Foundation Aims To Top $5 Million With Great Community Give
Revlan Hill, executive director of the Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, puts the finishing touches on a decoration for today’s fifth annual Great Community Give.
- Photos by Daniel Lin / DN-R
The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is offering locals an easy way to do good in the community.
The foundation is doing that by hosting the annual Great Community Give, an online fundraising day where the Community Foundation provides a virtual platform for local nonprofits to campaign for their cause and raise money.
Over 120 local nonprofits are participating in the virtual day of giving, which begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m.
Each year since it started in 2018, the Community Foundation has set a total fundraising goal, and each year, the community has donated enough to exceed that goal, said Revlan Hill, executive director.
So far, the Community Foundation has helped local nonprofits raise nearly $3.5 million in four Great Community Gives. Each year, the fundraising total has gone up, according to Amanda Bomfim, program officer for the Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Last year, the Great Community Give raised $1.7 million for local nonprofits, according to Hill.
The Community Foundation’s fundraising goal for this year is $1.8 million — enough to reach $5 million total raised over the first five years of the event.
The event began in 2018 after a long period of consideration, event organizers said.
“I think Revlan knew it was time and our community was ready,” said Kay Harrison, a former board member and planning committee volunteer. “The board stepped forward and we made a proposal to try it. There’s some expense to the Community Foundation so we were trying to make sure we were being responsible with the money to put it on.”
The stars finally aligned when a community member was inspired by a similar day of giving in Lancaster, Pa., and approached Hill.
“We had the ability and we dreamt of doing something amazing for nonprofits,” Hill said. “For us to have taken a chance years ago to start this Great Community Give, was it bold? Maybe. Was it scary? Sure, I was nervous. But I think if you’re going to make a difference in the community — and with the work we do here at the Community Foundation — you have to be bold.”
A key element of the Great Community Give is educating people about all the different nonprofits and causes in the community, Harrison said.
Around 120 distinct nonprofits are fundraising in the Great Community Give. Their causes include animal welfare, literacy and health. Often, the nonprofits raise money in the Great Community Give for a specific project or goal, Hill said.
During the Great Community Give, there will be hourly prizes given to nonprofits on top of their fundraising. The Community Foundation will give an additional $80,000 in prize money that was donated from sponsors throughout the previous year, Bomfim said.
Golden ticket prizes will give an extra $1,000 to a charity that was donated to during hourlong windows of the Great Community Give. The event will also feature a leaderboard that will allow nonprofits of different sizes to qualify for additional prizes, according to Hill.
Members of the Community Foundation primarily credit the success of the fundraising so far to the generosity of the community.
“I think the Great Community Give really shows the heart of our community,” Hill said. “We’re a generous community. Those who are able to contribute and make a difference, I think they really step up and make a difference during that day.”
There are some aspects of the event that are key to helping people do good by raising money. Since the event is based on a single day, it gives people a deadline to give, Hill said.
Additionally, she said the event allows members of the community to come together to create a massive fundraising total that they couldn’t give individually.
“We can’t make that $1.7 million gift individually that we raised last year as a community. But together, we can do something really phenomenal,” Hill said.
The people behind the event — Hill, the board of directors, a volunteer planning committee and the staff at the local Community Foundation — are all part of the success of the event, said Bomfim, who also leads the planning of the event.
The nonprofits involved do their own promotion, while the Community Foundation provides the platform, said Hill. The Community Foundation provides a lot of training for the nonprofits, but the nonprofits do the work to fundraise during the event, so Hill credits the success of fundraising to the nonprofits themselves.
An online-based event, anyone in the community can donate a minimum of $10 to a local nonprofit of their choice by visiting greatcommunitygive.org and clicking the green “give back” button in the center of the page.
Last year, the Great Community Give introduced cash giving to make it easier for people to give without using their computer or a credit card. To give cash and have it counted as part of the Great Community Give, donors may drop off money at the nonprofit of their choice during the day.
“People absolutely want to do good,” Hill said. “For that one day, it’s as easy as point, click, give online.”