Annual Online Drive Boosts Nonprofits Across Kentuckiana
On Sept. 18, the Community Foundation of Louisville will host Give for Good Louisville, Kentuckiana’s largest day for online giving to benefit hundreds of nonprofit organizations in 26 cause categories.
Since it began in 2014, 172,000 donors have contributed nearly $70 million to participating organizations in Bullitt, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby and Spencer counties in Kentucky, and Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties in Southern Indiana. This coordinated effort makes it easy for individuals to identify local causes that support their communities.
Although the drive runs from Sept. 15 through 19, most people prefer to donate on the 18th, when the impact of their monetary gifts is maximized by local match prospects and opportunities to qualify for additional funds from prize pools.
The Give for Good Louisville website, GiveForGoodLouisville.org, is run and maintained by Mightycause, a software platform specializing in fundraising. Organizations must preregister to participate and are vetted by the Community Foundation of Louisville. To be eligible, they must be headquartered in the eight counties involved and be a 501(c)(3) charity, a war veterans’ organization under 501(c)(19) or 501(c)(23) with a 90% war veteran membership, a church or religious institution, or a governmental unit.
The foundation does not screen according to mission or purpose but ensures that charitable status and operating location requirements are met.
Once accepted, resources are available to support each organization as they set up a donation page. Each page includes basic information such as mission statements and website links. Additionally, each nonprofit is assigned a tier level based on annual gross revenue, with tier one being less than $50,000 and tier four more than $1.5 million.
“On the main day of the event, which will be Sept. 18 this year, what really stands out is the atmosphere around the city and the region,” says Aaron Henry, manager of Give for Good Louisville. “All day long, people are posting on Facebook and Instagram, as well as messaging and texting. Many organizations hold watch parties with their donors. The media comes in about 4 a.m. At 8 a.m., we start hosting a livestream that lasts 12 hours until 8 p.m.
“We give a mix of organizations five minutes to present. We provide more exposure to those designated as tier one or two because they don’t always have the chance to explain their mission due to not having as many resources as the bigger nonprofits.”
Visitors to GiveForGoodLouisville.org can search for the organization of their choice or find one involved in a favorite cause by typing in the search bar in the top left corner. By clicking on the “Filters” link, users can further narrow their focus by location, tier level or cause. Causes are listed alphabetically and range from animals to youth. Among the 26 categories are disaster relief, immigration services, homelessness and housing, hunger, and women’s issues. Donors can choose up to 300 organizations to contribute to.
Several different giving methods are accepted besides credit cards or bank account deductions. Other options include Apple Pay and Google Pay. A charitable checking fund is available, in which a lump sum of money is deposited for tax- and fee-free giving. Donations from a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) can also be used. Donors may elect to set up recurring gifts as well.
“Anyone can revisit the organizations’ pages and donate year-round, but Sept. 18 is all about matching donations and unlocking prize money,” Henry says. “Organizations can set up match periods ahead of time. Power Hours occur when a supporter or business announces a time they’ll match donations. Throughout the day, monetary prizes are awarded. A prize pool is developed by the Community Foundation of Louisville with community partners and businesses.
“Generous community partners make it possible for donors to help the organization they contribute to unlock prizes,” he adds. “Sam Swope Family developed a legacy prize. Any organization involved got $150 just for being registered. Last year, Churchill Downs was named Most Generous Group. Their staff raised more than $37,000 during Give for Good Louisville. The prize they developed, Greatest Two Minutes of Giving, boosted donations by $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000.”
Supporters of participating organizations are important because they raise awareness of the event. Besides posting and using the hashtag #GiveForGoodLou on their own social media accounts, they can follow the Community Foundation of Louisville on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @cflouisville, then repost the foundation’s content.
Another important facet of Give for Good Louisville is that supporters can set up peer-to-peer pages. These fundraiser pages are connected to and populate under the organization page they support. It’s another way to generate awareness and create added buzz for a cause.
“The focus of Give for Good Louisville is to bring causes that might not get much exposure to the forefront, as well as connect organizations to each other,” Henry says. “Lower-tier organizations don’t have a huge number of supporters or the funds to hold individual fundraisers on their own.
“Originally, the event was called Give Local Louisville,” he adds. “It slowly grew into other counties, and in 2017, the name was changed to Give for Good Louisville. Now we connect with partners across the river. Last year, $9.6 million was raised in a single day. It’s like a celebration. It is also a huge undertaking with a large impact across the community.”
Community Foundation of Louisville is located at 325 West Main Street, Suite 1110, Waterfront Plaza, West Tower, Louisville, Kentucky. For more information, call 502-585-4649 or email them at info@cflouisville.org.
