Local nonprofits seeking gifts during 24-hour campaign

The Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus posted a photo on Facebook this week with the organization's music director and conductor smiling broadly against a backdrop of students and instruments.

It would ordinarily be called a "selfie," but for Georgia Gives Day the photo was entered into an "unselfie" contest that focused on compassion and a giving spirit.

"The YOGC picture with Maestro Jim Palmer is one of the Top 10 Finalists in the#GAgivesday#Unselfie Contest," the organization posted Tuesday. "Please share and vote today! You could help us win $500 if we win!"

YOGC is just one of hundreds of nonprofits participating today in the statewide Georgia Gives Day fundraising program sponsored by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits.

During a 24-hour period, individuals can make secure online donations to their favorite nonprofits at GAgivesday.org. The program allows nonprofits to raise as much money as possible and leverage donations through incentive activities such as the "unselfie" contest, which offered a $500 prize. The youth orchestra came in third, winning $100.

GCN President Karen Beavor said there are 400 new organizations participating in Geor

gia Gives Day this year, bringing the total to nearly 3,000. In the Chattahoohcee Valley, she said, about 100 nonprofits were registered.

"Columbus is certainly one of our strongest markets," she said. "Last year, Columbus nonprofits raised just shy of $600,000. That is quite a bit of money. We do expect that again this year."

Beavor said Georgia Gives Day helps nonprofits spread awareness and reach people they may not normally approach for support.

"The first rule of fundraising is to ask; it's really that simple," she said. "And a lot of times nonprofits, they don't have the ability to wage these grand marketing campaigns on their own. So this is an opportunity for nonprofits to do that and show solidarity and that we're all together in this."

The Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley held a digital conference in October to educate organizations on how to tell their stories through social media on Georgia Gives Day and throughout the year.

The conference was funded by the Knight Foundation and replaced promotional activities that the local foundation coordinated in the past to help boost the fundraising effort.

Kelli Parker, director of donor services for the Community Foundation, said the local incentives provided through the Knight Foundation grants amounted to $98,000 from 2012 to 2014.

"The Knight Foundation funded Georgia Gives Day in both Macon and Columbus for the past two years, and those funds flowed through the community foundations to those nonprofits," Beavor said. "But the whole idea around that was to provide a baseline of training and awareness and support to nonprofits so they could then take the ball and run with it. And we really feel strongly that that's what they've been doing. They've been really stepping up, and you can see it on social media."

Beavor said the website has very high search capabilities so donors can enter a ZIP code and a keyword to find the cause that they would like to support. If the nonprofit of their choice is registered, they can give directly to that organization.

Statewide incentives on the website include "Golden Tickets" that range between $250 and $1,000. They are awarded to organizations every hour based on donor names that are selected randomly. The day also will include "Power Hour" prizes for groups amassing the largest group of donors at any given hour and matching challenge grants for nonprofits that have raised money ahead of time.

"It's really up to the donors, it's up to the nonprofits and it's up to the community to really make it great," Beavor said. "Every nonprofit's bank account is paired with the site so that the funds go directly into the bank account of the nonprofit. There's no middle-man in between there."

As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Infantry Museum Foundation ranked second on the website for the most dollars raised statewide, with $32,273. Girls Inc. of Columbus and Russell County ranked sixth on the Financial Wellness Leaderboard with $6,498.

Dorothy McDaniel, executive director of Trees Columbus, said her organization has participated in Georgia Gives Day since its inception three years ago. She said bonus funds through the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley were very helpful, and her organization was able to raise more than $30,000 last year.

She hopes the loss of those incentives won't negatively impact local giving.

"For Trees Columbus, the funds that we raise on Georgia Gives Day are not something that we necessarily budget for," she said.

"And that means we can take that money and put it straight into the planting programs, and that's made the difference between planting 500 trees and planting 2,000 trees. So I hope we do just as well as we did last year."

Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 10:41 PM with the headline "Local nonprofits seeking gifts during 24-hour campaign."