Richland Gives donors to enjoy lower fees for event’s 10th year

MANSFIELD — Richland Gives donors will notice a few new changes for the 10th anniversary of the community giving event. 

Maura Teynor, Richland County Foundation chief advancement officer, said multiple donors had told her they didn’t like 4-percent platform fees incurred on donations in previous years.

This year, the RCF board of trustees voted to cover the platform fees.

“The total fee that a donor will see is the 2.9-percent card fee, plus 30 cents per transaction,” Teynor said. 

RCF hosted a kickoff meeting Friday, Sept. 27 to announce this to participating nonprofits and discuss other updates.

Teynor said donors who have donor-advised funds set up through RCF or a different organization like Fidelity Charitable will be able to give with no fees.

“What I like about Richland Gives is all the nonprofits come together and we all raise money as a community,” Teynor said. “Richland County has always been very generous.”

Last year’s event raised more than $500,000 for more than 100 nonprofits.

“The first couple of years, we were learning how it would all work, but we knew we really had something great,” Teynor said.

Richland County Foundation providing $80K in grant incentives

Thanks to RCF donors, the foundation will provide $80,000 in grant incentives to nonprofits who win fundraising challenges.

One of the new matching funds is for the “fab freshman” — awarded to a nonprofit participating in its first year with Richland Gives that raises the most funds.

Fred Boll, executive director of the Buckeye Imagination Museum, has been involved in Richland Gives since the first year.

“Richland Gives is a unique opportunity,” he said.

“I talk to organizations all over Ohio, and nobody else in our state is doing this. I can’t thank the foundation enough for this opportunity to make our community better.”

Christine Myers, co-founder of the Visual Bucket List Foundation, said Richland Gives has helped the organization increase visibility for its mission.

“If you’re a newbie, Maura helps connect you with another nonprofit,” Myers said. “Fred helped us out our first year, and we ended up winning the first donation hour. They put our logo up on the screen and most people didn’t know who we were.

“But that helped get the word out about us and we have raised a lot more than we thought we would with Richland Gives.”

Businesses have opportunity to promote Richland Gives on personalized pages

Teynor also invited Gayle Gorman Green to the kickoff meeting on Friday because of her continued support of Richland Gives.

“From a donor’s perspective, I thought it was a great idea to have everything concisely in one location and to be able to look at the missions of all of these nonprofits,” Gorman Green said.

“I know that the foundation has verified they’re good organizations, and it’s such an easy way to support our community. I think Richland Gives’ success speaks for itself.”

Nonprofits can register through Oct. 31 for Richland Gives. There are currently more than 70 nonprofits registered.

Businesses can also set up branded giving pages highlighting specific nonprofits or Richland Gives as a whole. The pages will be similar to the peer-to-peer model available for individuals to highlight a nonprofit important to them.

Businesses can customize their pages with their own photos, text and even a donation challenge or personalized matching grant. They can select multiple nonprofits to highlight.

What I like about Richland Gives is all the nonprofits come together and we all raise money as a community. Richland County has always been very generous.

Maura Teynor, RCF chief advancement officer

“It’s not for businesses to raise money for themselves, but rather to spread the word about Richland Gives and gives them an opportunity to highlight nonprofits they’re passionate about,” Teynor said. “You can share your specific link on social media and track your progress.”

Destination Mansfield set up the first business page for Richland Gives this year.

“It was easy to set up,” said Destination Mansfield president Lee Tasseff. “What we did was we highlighted the nonprofits participating that are members of our organization.”

Since its inception, Richland Gives has raised nearly $3 million for local nonprofits.

The Richland Gives 2024 campaign will begin Nov. 18 at 7 a.m. with early giving, and conclude Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.