All the money that goes toward supporting the nonprofits, churches and other organizations behind the web of social services that help tie communities together has to come from somewhere, and on Tuesday, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts hopes it will be from you.
Valley Gives day returns for a third year next week, giving Pioneer Valley residents in Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties the opportunity to donate money, via the Internet, to an organization of their choice.
The event’s goals are to raise money and support for Pioneer Valley organizations and enhance philanthropy and the spirit of giving among the local community.
It lasts one full day, and donations can be made through the crowd-sourcing platform Razoo, according to the foundation. All donations are tax-deductible and irrevocable, and donors will receive an email receipt for their gift from the Razoo Foundation. The organization will receive contact information for each donor, unless the donor elects to remain anonymous.
“It’s one day to celebrate the Pioneer Valley, all three counties, and all the work that gets done to make it a fantastic place to live in,” said Michael DeChiara, executive director of the foundation.
Individuals may schedule or “pledge” their donations in advance through Tuesday. Online donations within this time frame as well as all donations made to participating organizations during the 24-hour event on Tuesday will be processed immediately and count toward the overall totals of Valley Gives Day. The minimum donation is $10.
Since 2012, Valley Gives Day has had over 24,000 donors, together raising $5.8 million for over 550 nonprofits throughout the Pioneer Valley, according to the event’s website.
“It runs really the whole spectrum of organizations and interests, from food and the environment, to human services, fire departments, volunteer ambulances — it really touches all the different parts of the Valley and people’s lives,” DeChiara said.
He said there is one big change this year, as well as the introduction of two new concepts to the event. The change is that this year is the first time the event is being held in the spring, as opposed to the winter.
“It’s just so busy for everyone in the winter, on both the donor side and organization side,” he said.
The new concepts will leverage the power of social media, allowing donors to create their own pages and link them to the organization of their choice, so that every time a friend on Facebook makes a donation to that donor’s page, it gets channeled to the organization. The second new element is a matching donation program, where the foundation will match the first 500 donations.
“This is money really to get these organizations moving forward on their mission, as they see fit with unrestricted funds,” DeChiara said.