The Giving Challenge: Coming September 1 & 2, 2015

Meditate on your many possibilities while you have plenty of time.

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is thrilled to announce the dates for a 2015 Giving Challenge in Southwest Florida for nonprofit organizations serving Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Desoto counties. In partnership with rock stars in philanthropy including The Patterson Foundation, we will offer a platform and incentives to encourage everyone to take part in giving.

The 2015 Giving Challenge is Tuesday, September 1 at noon through Wednesday, September 2 at noon.

This 24-hour online giving event has inspired citizen philanthropy for the last three years, raising more than $8 million for local organizations thanks to support from local foundations, tens of thousands of generous donors, media partners, and hardworking nonprofit staff and volunteers.

Once again, organizations eligible to participate will have an updated profile in The Giving Partner, showcasing their transparency.

We’ll share more information soon, but as you begin to think about your campaign, keep these ideas in mind:

1. Think about the importance of effective messaging, telling compelling stories about the real results you’re achieving for people, animals or places in our community.
2. Consider how you can involve your nonprofit’s biggest advocates (board members, volunteers and current donors) as ambassadors to inspire new people to give.
3. Consider how you can integrate your Giving Challenge campaign into your organization’s current communication tools, existing events, and big picture goals.
4. And think of ways you can work as a team at your organization—no matter how small your team may be—to structure a fun, engaging experience for everyone.

We can feel those wheels in motion already, and we can’t wait to see what the most creative community in the country will come up with this year to engage our giving population in philanthropy.