The Community Foundation of Sarasota County Announces Date of Giving Challenge 2024

The 24-hour giving event gives local nonprofits much-needed funding boost

SARASOTA—The Community Foundation of Sarasota County on Tuesday announced that it will host a Giving Challenge from noon to noon April 9-10, 2024. The Giving Challenge is a 24-hour giving event that supports nonprofit organizations in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

The event in 2024 will mark the ninth Giving Challenge hosted during the last 12 years. Since the initial Giving Challenge in 2012 more than $75 million of unrestricted funding has been raised for local nonprofit organizations that serve our region.

“The outpouring of enthusiasm surrounding each Giving Challenge demonstrates the generous nature of our community,” said Community Foundation President and CEO Roxie Jerde. “It is so heartening to see the enormous support given to our valuable nonprofit community through this exciting 24-hour span of giving. Each person making a gift empowers our nonprofits to fulfill their missions that contribute to our vibrant community in so many ways. I also love how the Giving Challenge unites our community by bringing together tens of thousands of caring citizens!”

The most recent Giving Challenge was in 2022, when $16.2 million was raised to support 667 participating charitable organizations with the average gift being $121.75 from the more than 83,000 donations. The Patterson Foundation, a partner since the inception of the Giving Challenge, offered a 1:1 match on all donations up to $100 that incentivized giving and expanded the impact of each gift. The Patterson Foundation has contributed more than $30 million to the Giving Challenge since 2012.

“The Giving Challenge activates the generosity gene that lies within each of us by highlighting the many ways hundreds of dedicated nonprofits strengthen our region,” said Debra Jacobs, President & CEO of The Patterson Foundation. “The Patterson Foundation’s support aspires to brighten that spotlight and magnify the impact of each donor’s contribution to the Giving Challenge.”

Building off that collaborative spirit, one couple last year leveraged the match by donating $100 to all participating organizations, turning their $66,700 into a total of $133,400 to the nonprofit community.

At its core, the Giving Challenge emphasizes the ability for every person to be a philanthropist, whatever their means, and donations go directly to the organization that a donor wants to support. The match means donors can double their dollars to their favorite organizations, with the amplified impact boosting participation.

The Patterson Foundation will continue to strengthen giving during the 2024 Giving Challenge by providing a 1:1 match for all unique donations, up to $100 per donor, per organization, with no limit on the number of individual matches a nonprofit organization can receive.

While Giving Challenge results are often reported in dollars raised, the event offers much more than a mere platform and purpose for giving. In the year leading up to the event, participating nonprofit organizations are invited to numerous free trainings and workshops that help them enhance collaborations with other nonprofits and business organizations, develop communications plans, hone their social media marketing skills and more. The Giving Challenge offers a holistic approach to strengthening capacity, through both dollars and development.

To encourage participation in networking, market strategy and general self-advocacy for nonprofits, several prizes are offered to organizations voted best in various categories, such as best use of social media, best partnership (nonprofit and business), and best online Giving Challenge event.

Registration for the 2024 program will begin in November 2023, and trainings and support will be offered throughout Fall 2023. Organizations wishing to participate will be able to find registration details and training opportunities at www.GivingChallenge.org. An active profile in The Giving Partner, an online directory of nonprofit organizations, is required for eligibility.