VANCOUVER — The fourth annual Give More 24! fundraising drive encouraged giving to local nonprofits in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties as part of a 24-hour online “give-a-thon” on Sept. 21. This year, the event surpassed its goal of raising $1 million for the participating nonprofits.
A press release from the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, the organization behind the Give More 24! event, revealed that the final amount donated totaled $1,033,825. This surpassed the goal, and was an approximately $115,000 increase over last year’s total.
A total of 130 nonprofit organizations took part in the event, which was designed to encourage donating during the 24-hour period with over $300,000 in matching funds and a $56,000 stretch pool, said Maury Harris, marketing and communications specialist for the Community Foundation of Southwest Washington.
According to Harris, the stretch pool helps increase the amount each donor gives. It was determined with a calculation based on the size of the donation factored into the total earned by the event overall and multiplied by the stretch pool value. It helped make “every single gift go just a little further,” Harris said.
Donors could donate to the 130 nonprofits online, and 3,422 donors gave 5,118 gifts during the 24-hour period. While most donors came from the Southwest Washington area, donations came from as many as 40 states and 9 countries.
According to the press release, the Camas Christian Academy had received the most gifts of all the nonprofits, with 221 individual gifts. The organization Share raised $47,901, and that was the highest total received by a single nonprofit.
In addition to the online giving component of the Give More 24! event, participating nonprofits and local businesses organized related events to get residents involved in the community. Harris said that the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington provided resources to help each nonprofit raise awareness of the event, and encouraged the nonprofits to hold their own fundraising events during the Give More 24! event.
The Parks Foundation of Clark County hosted a “swing-a-thon” where local residents, business owners and community leaders could swing on park playgrounds to raise support for the Give More 24! event.
The Journey Theater Arts Group partnered with a local Red Robin restaurant to raise funds through a carpool karaoke event.
Similar events were held throughout Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties.
The Give More 24! event also allowed nonprofits with the top donation amount to receive an additional $1000, and some of these prizes were offered to multiple nonprofits in various size categories.
To learn more about the annual Give More 24! fundraiser, visit https://give-more-24.org/.
