Southwest Washington’s midnight-to-midnight giving spree on Thursday raised $676,311 for local charities, falling short of its $750,000 target. However, the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington — the host and marketing power behind Give More 24! — says it’s more about reaching people than reaching a certain monetary goal.
“Obviously, we’re always hopeful and hope for more than sometimes we get,” said Maury Harris, communications and marketing director with the foundation. “This event is unique in the way that it allows people to have fun while they’re giving and makes it easy to find nonprofits.”
People introduced to a nonprofit through Thursday’s social media and email blasts may still give down the road, whether with their time or money. It’s not just about reaching more people, but also figuring out ways to target certain populations, Harris said. This year an age category was added to the online donation form. Nonprofits are interested in reaching young people and figuring out how to make them habitual donors.
These days, the Web is a big part of reaching people. About 1,200 people liked, commented or shared Give More 24! posts on Facebook. Another 2,684 clicked through from Facebook to learn more about Give More 24! on a website. Representatives of nonprofit groups, who attended marketing workshops held by the Community Foundation, played around with their own social media accounts to encourage giving. Innovative Services Northwest staffers were so thrilled to get new donors, they thanked everyone with a dance video set to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” The nonprofit got 112 gifts totaling $5,220.
“We hope as this event becomes more and more recognized, we’ll see increases every year,” Harris said.
There were 3,640 separate gifts made on Thursday, but that doesn’t reflect the number of donors; one person can make multiple gifts. This is the second year for Give More 24! Last year, the event raised $431,994 through 1,842 gifts benefiting 85 nonprofit agencies in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties.
Top recipient
Share was Thursday’s big winner, collecting $52,050 through 126 individual gifts. The biggest gift was a $25,000 matching donation from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Family Foundation. Having raised $13,000 last year, Share’s administrators were worried they weren’t going to reach the $25,000 mark to get the full match, said Jessica Lightheart, Share’s community relations director.
The homeless shelter spent a lot of time strategizing their marketing, from crafting Facebook posts to obsessing over which pictures to use. They also got several businesses on board to help with donations outside of the online giving challenge.
“It’s been a wild ride, but it was well worth the work to raise the money,” Lightheart said.
She doesn’t think the people at Share made it all happen, though. Homelessness, camping ordinances and affordable housing have made regional headlines recently. A tent city has formed outside Share’s downtown Vancouver shelter.
“We’ve been front-of-mind for people,” Lightheart said. “I think affordable housing is certainly a cause people can get behind and support.”
Some of the money from Give More 24! will likely go toward expanding the supply of affordable housing, Lightheart said. Another area that could use more money is the hot meals program. Share serves breakfast, lunch and dinner out of the downtown shelter.
Looking into the future, Share also realizes it will need about $40,000 every year to operate Lincoln Place Apartments, once the complex for the chronically homeless is up and running next year, Lightheart said.
The Fort Vancouver National Trust was another organization that got a few large gifts from businesses, private donors and the board of trustees. Although the trust received only 41 gifts, they totaled $30,580.
“We felt like it was very successful,” said Toni Wyse, marketing and communications manager for the trust. “Our biggest goals are to raise awareness about the trust and what we do here.”
On Thursday, people toured the West Barracks to get an idea of what four historic buildings will look like once they’re renovated by the end of next year.
Food bank boost
The North County Community Food Bank served 11,000 people in north Clark County last year, or about 675 households each month. It’s run by 75 volunteers and two paid employees, one of them being executive director Elizabeth Cerveny.
“Even though it’s small, it’s very well-known and recognized,” Cerveny said. The North County Community Food Bank raised more money than any other small nonprofit, and more than most of the big ones, too. The food bank won three separate $1,000 timed prizes.
“This year, we did a little more in terms of reaching out for potential match dollars,” Cerveny said. They got $10,000 from an anonymous donor.
The $27,694 raised on Thursday is going toward a larger building, which could cost a couple million dollars. What’s envisioned is a space with more storage, a large walk-in refrigerator and freezer, a spacious lobby and room for classes. The goal is to help clients “stand on their own two feet” and educate them about nutritional cooking and grocery shopping on a budget, she said.
“We’re still climbing that tall ladder to raise sufficient funds,” Cerveny said. “Being as small as we are, we’re going to need a lot of help.”
The nonprofit’s annual Scare Away Hunger dinner auction is at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Battle Ground Community Center. The New Orleans-themed dinner event is the food bank’s biggest fundraiser, along with a tea ceremony that happens in the spring.
The Clark County Food Bank also had a successful Give More 24!, raising $30,104 or enough money for 120,416 meals. The goal was to raise enough for 100,000 meals; every dollar donated covers about four meals. The food bank started off strong, and was most of the way toward its goal by 7:30 a.m.
Gifts for kids
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington got 169 gifts, the most individual gifts of any participating organization, and raised $22,525. About 45 percent of donors were brand new to the organization, said Katie Swengel, communications and event manager. Throughout the day, the after-school program was asking for donations on social media.
“We used it more as a friend-raiser than a fundraiser,” Swengel said. “Our whole focus is just on getting the $10 donations.”
About 76 percent of the gifts were $50 or less, she said. They raised enough to get a $10,000 match from the Fred Meyer fund.
The after-school program has historically been successful at event fundraising, according to a study done by the Nonprofit Network of Southwest Washington. Give More 24! was a chance to spread awareness about the organization’s low-cost services.
A new clubhouse, the Heights O.K. 2 Clubhouse, is set to open in March in the Vancouver Heights neighborhood.
