Donate today for Colorado Gives
December 10, 2019
Originally appeared in The Colorado Springs Business Journal
Today is Colorado Gives Day, and organizers hope to top last year’s $35.3 million in donations.
Colorado Gives Day was created to increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving. The inaugural Colorado Gives Day in 2010 generated more than $8.4 million for 529 local charities.
Every dollar donated this year is increased through a $1.5 million Incentive Fund. Every nonprofit receiving a donation on Colorado Gives Day will receive a portion of the fund.
At the Colorado Gives Day web site, donors can search hundreds of nonprofits and fundraisers, which can be sorted by cause, county and region.
This year, Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado aims to raise 500,000 meals for families and kids facing hunger. Just $1 provides eight meals, according to a news release from Chief Operating Officer Shannon Brice.
If Care and Share Food Bank receives 10 percent of the total Colorado Gives Day donations, the organization also will receive 10 percent of the incentive fund, helping reach the 500,000 meals challenge, Brice said.
Special Olympics Colorado emailed donors saying, “Every single tax-deductible dollar you give [on Colorado Gives Day] will be boosted by the Colorado Gives Day incentive fund. Help end discrimination and build a more inclusive Colorado.”
The Colorado Trail Foundation announced the Sturm Family Foundation will match donors’ qualifying donations (dollar for dollar up to a total of $10,000) Dec. 1-31, including Colorado Gives Day.
The Center on Colfax said gifts on Colorado Gives Day will help improve program offerings including Rainbow Alley, SAGE of the Rockies, The Transgender Program and RANGE Consulting.
Mental Health Colorado invited supporters to donate during Colorado Gives Day to “help continue to promote mental wellness, end stigma, and ensure equitable access to mental health and substance use care.”
Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity has arranged community activities for the fundraising push, kicking off Colorado Gives Day at CityROCK to help “raise the issue of affordable housing to new heights.” PPHFH is also hosting its first Gingerbread Home Build to benefit its 2nd Annual Veteran Home Build. Children of Habitat families decorated individual gingerbread houses, along with local businesses that sponsored each house at $160 (0.1 percent the cost of a real Habitat house, at $160,000).
Colorado Gives Day is presented by FirstBank and Community First Foundation, an Arvada-based foundation that has made it easy to donate to hundreds of charitable organizations across the state.
