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Annual Giving Day scheduled for September 24 with many organizations in need
CLARK COUNTY — Philanthropy is becoming increasingly important to many Clark County nonprofits in the pandemic era. That’s why the 2020 edition of Give More 24! plans to be a donation center.
The Community Foundation of Southwest Washington (CFSWW) created Give More 24! in 2014, and increased the annual 24 hours of intense giving to a massive local push to empower many organizations.
This year, give more 24! will take place from September 24 at midnight to 11:59 p.m. on the same day. Several Clark County nonprofits are participating, and many are hoping to raise awareness as well as financial support with the added benefit of waiving entrance fees this year.
“All nonprofits are in the same situation in terms of the scramble for donations and funding,” said North County Community Food Bank (NCFCB) Executive Director Elizabeth Cerveny. “I think the economic situation has certainly made everyone slow down and really think about their donations more cautiously, but also the growing need with the increasing number of unemployed people. There’s this sort of double-edged sword that happens in the nonprofit world.
The NCCFB began in 1980 as a grassroots organization, growing into a widely and strongly supported mechanism to feed thousands of starving people in North County each year. Their current board of directors includes Clark County Fire and Lifesaving Chief John Nohr and Washington State Senator Ann Rivers. Last year, NCCFB raised almost $100,000 during Give More 24! and achieved that highest overall dollar amount.
In total, the 2019 Giving Day raised nearly $1.7 million and supported 169 nonprofits. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of the donations came specifically from Clark County.
The most important categories for organizations that received donations last year were education, health and welfare, and poverty and hunger. Money for these causes has been raised through the combination of large-scale sponsors matching donations from independent donors. Davidson and Associates Insurance, Pemco Insurance and Kaiser Permanente were among the main sponsors.
“For us, it’s awareness,” said chief executive Sharon Pesut of Partners in Careers (PIC). “We want people to get to know Partners and Careers. In the past it wasn’t so much about money as it was about connecting people to what we were doing. Part of our niche in the market, so to speak, is giving people work experience, whether it’s high school students going out and doing internships at local businesses, or even our clients adults we put into work experience in a non-profit or government agency, where they can really develop their skills.
Pesut explained how PIC works with everyone from young children to homeless veterans; work to provide them with stability and independence. One of the most shocking things Pesut learned when she started the program was that there were people in the community who were the third generation in their family who had never bought food with money.
When people in these kinds of situations are mentored by PIC, they are exposed to new opportunities and can regain their independence and perseverance, Pesut said.
With the pandemic, PIC and many other organizations like the NCCFB will not just be looking to build relationships, but will actually be looking for funds. The PIC shortfall specifically stems from a reduction in state and federal contracts by 25% across the board. PIC has slowly increased its fundraising each year, and this year hopes to do even more to fill the gaps and continue to find jobs for those in need.
Other organizations, such as the Vancouver Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), join Give More 24! for the first time. Brittini Lasseigne manages fundraising for the NAACP and YWCA of Clark County This year. Since the Vancouver Chapter is a 501c4, they needed a fiscal sponsor to participate in Give More. YWCA operates as a fiscal sponsor, as they are also participating in this year’s event.
“The NAACP and some of the smaller nonprofits that participate, it’s almost like the Community Foundation vouches for them that they’re a great nonprofit to participate in,” Lasseigne said. “The Community Foundation has such reach that it allows all of these people to learn about a whole bunch of new nonprofits. When I approach my donation for Give More 24! I really like looking at the leaderboard and seeing who’s down and struggling throughout the day. I like to give my gifts to those people who may not have received so many, because you can see a big impact with that.
NAACP Vancouver has seen a massive influx of new donors since the death in custody of George Floyd, Lasseigne said. The organization expects many of these new donors to contribute during Give More 24! this year, and they hope to use it as a time to help them learn more about the NAACP, Lasseigne said.
With YWCA Clark County, 24-hour fundraising has historically not been about money, but about building relationships, much like PIC in the past. With very little overhead, the YWCA has been able to focus its efforts on the COVID-19 response, including helping with testing sites and gift cards to those in need. The YWCA will still use the event as a fundraiser to try to offset similar deficits at PIC, but will use its annual luncheon as its main source of donors, Lasseigne said.
Technology will obviously play a much bigger role in the event this year, with all components moving online. The impact of the need for expertise and technological equipment also affected many participating nonprofits.
“What we need to look for this year is to be more aggressive about how we stay connected to our customers, because we’re very relationship-based,” Pesut said of PIC. “We need to connect with them through technology. There is a huge challenge with that. We received money from the CARES Act to buy more Chromebooks so we could lend them to our customers. The community has been great to have access to hotspots, so people can hopefully connect somewhere when they can’t get to a library or community center.
To find out more about the Give More 24! Fundraising, to become a sponsor and to see how you can contribute both financially and through in-kind services, visit the Community Foundation website at www.cfsww.org.
