Editor’s Note: This article is brought to you by The Richland County Foundation.
MANSFIELD — Nonprofits are ready to bounce back stronger than ever.
After a tough revenue year in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, local nonprofit organizations have relied on support from the community to survive. An extra infusion of financial support begins Monday.
Richland Gives, an online giving event hosted by the Richland County Foundation, officially begins at 7 a.m. on Nov. 15. The event is designed to encourage people to contribute to local nonprofits they care about through a single giving website, richlandgives.org.
The purpose of Richland Gives is to build capacity for local nonprofits, grow philanthropy and make the community stronger. It allows local organizations to raise funds and awareness, as well as cultivate new donors and reinvigorate lapsed donors.
It also demonstrates the Richland County Foundation’s support of local nonprofits, said Foundation president Brady Groves.
“If you look at what we do, we make grants that get publicity, but really it’s about the organizations that deliver the services,” he said. “And if we can make those organizations stronger by providing streams of revenue, it makes our grants even more effective.
“It’s about strengthening the body of philanthropy in Richland County.”
The Richland County Foundation was instrumental in helping local nonprofits stay afloat through 2020.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Richland County Foundation Board of Trustees relaunched the Richland Gives giving platform in April 2020 to help nonprofits raise operating revenue during the pandemic.
The Foundation also awarded $778,302 in grants to area nonprofits in 2020 through its COVID-19 Rapid Relief efforts. This funding helped local organizations survive during a time when operating revenue was decimated by the pandemic.
“We were a little tentative last year, but giving nationwide was up last year across all sectors,” said Maura Teynor, chief advancement officer with the Foundation. “Individuals actually gave more last year; the only sector that went down was corporations, but every other area of giving was up.”
Since its inception in 2015, the Richland Gives event has raised nearly $1.5 million for local nonprofit organizations.
“I think it demonstrates a vote of confidence for nonprofits, especially during the last couple of years when they struggled a bit in different areas,” Groves said.
This year’s Richland Gives event will take place starting Monday, Nov. 15 at 7 a.m. through Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Richland Gives donors will be able to make their online donations early to 127 causes, and donations will still count toward the giving day totals for each nonprofit.
In addition to donations received from the community, participating nonprofit organizations have the opportunity to earn additional dollars through prizes from the Richland County Foundation on Nov. 30.
The Richland County Foundation Board of Trustees approved $100,000 in prize incentives for this year’s Richland Gives event, a significant increase from years past. Prizes will be awarded based on money raised per hour, and money raised overall.
“One of the reasons we felt that was important was because nonprofits suffered in 2020, especially those in the arts and culture sector,” Teynor said. “They’re still on the rebound trying to make up revenue, so we felt it was important to increase the prizes.”
Last year alone, Richland Gives raised $356,820 for 83 Richland County nonprofits.
“The community has shown the value of nonprofits. It’s important to give that little boost of encouragement,” Groves said.
