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The Giving Challenge is a 24-hour giving event that brings together more than 700 local nonprofit organizations listed on The Giving Partner with their passionate donors and community members to support causes and missions they care about while creating transformative impact.

While we are monitoring the evolving situation in our community, the 2020 Giving Challenge is first and foremost an online giving event, and it remains scheduled April 28-29. The 2020 Giving Challenge will be one of several grant-funding tools available to help with our community’s evolving response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the unrestricted funds raised during the Giving Challenge provide our nonprofit partners flexibility to respond to community needs, especially as those needs evolve or change. 

Since 2012, the Giving Challenge has acted as a catalyst for connection, helping donors throughout our region show their love for local nonprofit organizations by providing more than $40 million in unrestricted funding. The 2018 Giving Challenge set a new standard for generosity in our community, when more than $11.7 million was raised in just 24 hours.

Save the date for the next “Giving Challenge” happening from Noon to Noon on April 28th and 29th, 2020!

Training videos to guide you through building your organization’s 2020 Giving Challenge Campaign are now available! The next live training will be on March 31!

Important Notice:
In-Person Events & Pop-up Giving Stations:

With many in-person gatherings being canceled, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County does not support or advise nonprofit organizations hold in-person Giving Challenge events this year. This also includes coordinating or participating in a Pop-up Giving Station. 

In place of in-person events, we recommend you flex your creative muscles with a variety of online event and social media strategies, including for example: webinars, livestreams, chatrooms, digital trivia or scavenger hunts. While in-person events and connections certainly make the Giving Challenge a gem in our community, online events provide enormous flexibility and potential to creatively connect others to your mission, while accommodating to the evolving situation in our community. 

Each participating organization has demonstrated a commitment to transparency by developing an in-depth profile in The Giving Partner. Participation in the Giving Challenge is contingent upon your nonprofit organization having an up-to-date online profile with a “Current” badge in The Giving Partner.

Visit thegivingpartner.org to check your organization’s status and learn more about other nonprofits’ mission, programmatic impact, leadership, planning, and financials.

Thanks to our community’s generous support and enthusiasm, the Giving Challenge has expanded far beyond its initial timeline and has continued on a variable schedule, allowing nonprofit organizations to develop:

  • Independent fundraising plans that support their work in a deeper way throughout the year — not just during the challenge.
  • Meaningful relationships between organizations and their donors who may have first connected with their mission through the Giving Challenge.

The Giving Challenge is presented by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County with giving strengthened by The Patterson Foundation, as well as support from Manatee Community Foundation, William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, and Charlotte Community Foundation.

2018 Giving Challenge

For 24 hours during the 2018 Giving Challenge, our community's generosity came to life through dozens of events and celebrations. These are just a few of the fun-filled moments that inspired giving and celebrated the work our nonprofit community makes happen each day.

(June 2018; 5 minutes)

Abigail Oakes headshot

If more information is needed, please contact:

Erika Kelly 
Community Project Manager, 2020 Giving Challenge
941-556-7171  
GivingChallenge@CFSarasota.org