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What is the Giving Challenge?

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 $75 million in unrestricted funding over eight challenges.

The Giving Challenge is a 24-hour virtual giving event that brings together nearly 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.

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 updated profile 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.
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Need Assistance?

Giving Challenge Support

941-556-7171

givingchallenge@cfsarasota.org

Highlights from the 2022 Giving Challenge

Within 24 hours on April 26 and 27, donors across the community united with an outpouring of support for the 2022 Giving Challenge, raising more than $16 million for 667 participating nonprofit organizations in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties.

With more than $10 million provided in community support and prizes from 46,371 donors and 83,180 total gifts, along with $6,088,115 million in matching funds from The Patterson Foundation, the 2022 Giving Challenge affirmed our community’s generosity with now having raised more than $75 million over the last decade through eight Giving Challenges.

Thanks to your generosity, the 2022 Giving Challenge enhanced and augmented the efforts of our nonprofit community, as the unrestricted funds raised during the Giving Challenge now provide our nonprofit partners flexibility to respond to community needs.

Giving Challenges of the past have raised more than funds: they’ve raised spirits in hard times and raised the prospect of hope during moments of uncertainty. Read about nonprofits’ experiences with previous Giving Challenges—how they leveraged their strengths to maximize fundraising, and the ways that the Giving Challenge supported their ability to pursue their missions in these impact testimonials.

With 324 responses collected from local nonprofit organizations, the 2022 Giving Challenge Outcomes Survey measured several key factors, including years participated, budget size, outcomes and fundraising goals, and nonprofit and business collaborations.

Resources for Nonprofits

A comprehensive listing of all Giving Challenge webinars, workshops, and trainings will be available on the 2024 Giving Challenge website.
Visit www.givingchallenge.org for the latest.

2020 Stories of Success: 
Nonprofit Webinar Recording

Wednesday, June 9, 2021  

What makes a powerful Giving Challenge campaign? The Community Foundation of Sarasota County brought together nonprofit organizations that performed exceedingly well in the 2020 Giving Challenge to share what made their Giving Challenge campaigns so successful.

Click on the recording below to learn from your nonprofit peers from the workshop held on Wednesday June 9th from 10:00 am - 11:30 am. Learn how nonprofit organizations chose the awards they applied for, what elements made for a winning campaign, and how it affected their nonprofit organizations long-term strategy. 

Partners

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.