Give Ozarks Day, a 24-hour online giving event hosted by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and BKD Wealth Advisers, raised more than $910,000 for some 150 nonprofits.
In this area, $36,860 was raised. Many organizations participated: CASA of South Central Missouri, $4,057; Houston Education Foundation for laptops for the district’s new media center, $2,675; Houston Education Foundation Endowment match, $10,201; Stars Foundation, $4,309; Texas County Food Pantry, $672; Trinity Springs, $379; and Texas County Memorial Hospital Foundation for Ambassadors program, $14,567.
According to Louise Knauer, CFO senior vice president of communications and marketing, planning for Give Ozarks Day started a few years ago as CFO began looking to tap into the crowd funding trend as well as attract the younger, social media savvy generation. CFO and its partnering nonprofits have been promoting #GiveOzarks on social media for weeks.
Before the event, Knauer said CFO wouldn’t set a goal amount to raise because it was a first-time event and they had no idea what to expect. Around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday— when 1,685 donors had already given more than $500,000 — Knauer said organizers were thrilled and surprised by the response from donors.
“We feel really good about where we are at,” she said. “Our overall goal is just a good experience for our partnering agencies and donors.”
Nonprofits were eligible for prizes from CFO based on both their success raising funds and the number of supporters who made online donations. More than 20 of the nonprofits were selected to receive matching grants from the CFO for up to $5,000 each.