Almost 170 local non-profits raised $740,000 during the one-day March 15 Roanoke Valley Gives online fundraiser this year. The third annual event was organized by Foundation for Roanoke Valley.
Roanoke Catholic School was the top recipient again with $109,000 raised, which will go towards school scholarships and capital projects like installing air conditioning in the gym.
At a recent luncheon, Roanoke Valley Gives participants were honored and some of the top recipients – including those that won “Leaderboard” bonuses from sponsors for dollars pulled in within a specific time frame – were cited. Carly Oliver, associate director for Roanoke Valley Gives, said the leadership boards were divided into small, medium and large categories “based on the organization’s expenses and revenues.”
Then sponsored cash prizes were handed out to the top three in each category as they urged supporters on line to donate during a particular hour. There were “power hours” and “golden tickets” when those cash incentives came into play. Facebook was often the medium used to alert followers to the incentive period.
“I really do not think we would be as successful as we have been without the incentive prizes [of $500-$1000]. That’s why we really are thankful for the sponsors,” said Oliver. “Not only does it make those non-profits think more strategically and creatively, but it gets the community excited about helping a cause, knowing that their gift may actually be the gift that gets the [non-profit] that thousand dollars.”
The total take was less than the $800,000 goal announced beforehand but continued the upward trajectory of the donations taken in during the event Oliver noted. “Over the last three years, over 72 hours if you think of it that way, the community has raised over 1.8 million dollars. [It’s]so impressive.”
Gene Marrano
