WCCF Gives Day goal of $500,000 set for Sept. 10
Washington County Community Foundation announced Wednesday it has set a fundraising goal of $500,000 for WCCF Gives, its community-wide day of giving Sept. 10.
During this 12-hour event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the WCCF will enhance contributions made to participating charities via www.wccfgives.org by a percentage of a $100,000 match pool. The match pool will be distributed on a pro rata basis. So, the more money designated by donors to a specific charity, the greater the amount that charity will receive from the match pool. All contributions received through WCCF Gives, including the match pool, will be awarded to the charities as unrestricted grants.
“The $500,000 goal equates to almost $42,000 per hour, clearly a very ambitious goal for our inaugural day of giving,” said Betsie Trew, president and chief executive officer. “Although ambitious, we believe the goal is achievable when we consider the results of days of giving in other communities across the country, the results of our recent ‘Clicks for Cash’ contest, which logged more than 5,000 votes from our local community, and the time and effort devoted to this project over the past year by our charities, sponsors, trustees, and staff. We have already achieved our primary goal, which was to create a web-based fundraising vehicle to support every qualified and interested 501(c)(3) charity operating in Washington County.”
There are more than 100 local charities from Washington County registered to participate in the day of giving, and the mix of charitable causes is very diverse. All WCCF Gives participants are registered charities with a physical presence in Washington County, and all have agreed to use the money raised through WCCF Gives for charitable purposes in Washington County.
Qualifying WCCF Gives Day donations must be made using either MasterCard or Visa through www.wccfgives.org. The minimum gift is $25 but donors are welcome to give as much, and to as many charities as they would like, during the event. Donors wishing to make particularly generous gifts are encouraged to contact their credit card companies prior to making their contributions Sept. 10. In an effort to enable charities of all sizes to benefit from the match pool, the maximum amount a donor may give to a single charity and be eligible for the match pool is $10,000 per donor, per charity. There is no limit to what each charity may receive.
Throughout Sept. 10, the WCCF will post progress reports on its website, Facebook and Twitter. Real-time information will be available at www.wccfgives.org, so community members and charities will be able to track the incoming contributions.
“WCCF Gives will be a first-of-its kind fundraising event in Washington County and we are preparing for a very exciting day. Not only will donors have the opportunity to have their gifts to local charities increased, they will have the opportunity to share in the excitement and to know that, in just one day, they have made a difference,” said William M. Campbell, chairman.
For more information, please visit www.wccfgives.org.