Arts Day of Giving, 24-hour giving challenge – April 29

Why give to the arts? The arts are a critical economic, cultural, and civic asset in our region and have experienced a tumultuous period during the recession.  They have been entrepreneurial, quick thinking, and resourceful during this time, utilizing outside-the-box ideas with their boards, their volunteers, and fundraising.  And the Arts Day of Giving represents that entrepreneurial quality and gives our arts communities an opportunity to seize the collective and powerful efforts of our own networks to give.

Think back to your very first art experience and how that made you feel.  It’s that wonderful feeling we want to preserve and nurture for our current and next generation of arts creators, lovers, and audiences.

How can you give? On April 29th, starting at 4:29am, visit www.givelocalnow.org and make a gift as little as $25 to any of the 80 participating arts organizations in our region.  You will have 24 hours to make your donation, and all giving will end at 4:29am on April 30th, the next day.

Why is your donation important? Each donation will be matched on a prorated basis, thus making every grant go farther.  There will also be challenge prizes for the arts groups to win, allowing them to earn even more dollars.

What do I get in return? As an arts donor, you get the first hand experience of further advancing arts in our community in a real and tangible way.  All donations are tax-deductible.  And, a number of participating restaurants in our region want to thank you with a special gift for making your donation. To see restaurant thank-you gifts, visit this list of restaurants, and all you have to do is show them your email receipt of your donation!  In fact, GiveLocalNow is co-hosting a special noon-time lunch event on April 29th at Mulvaney’s at 19th and L Sts, including 4 food trucks (Bacon Mania, Drewski’s Hot Rod, Krush Burger, and Simply Southern Food).  We’ll have live music and other arts, the Mayor will make an appearance, and a “giving” station will be available.

What’s so cool about April 29th? This day of giving is cool because we are launching the region’s first nonprofit database, GivingEdge, which represents a key resource for nonprofits, funders, and donors.  It is co-branded with Guidestar, the nation’s largest and trusted resource for nonprofit information, and currently holds vetted information for our region’s 80 arts organizations.  Donors on the day of giving can read more about the arts organization, if they choose to.  We will continue to populate this with the rest of the nonprofit sector to prepare for an even bigger day of giving for the rest of the nonprofit sector in 2014.  This day is also cool because in every other community across the nation that has hosted a giving challenge day, millions of dollars have been raised and the number of new donors to the sector has increased exponentially. It gives our region the opportunity to join the ranks of these other cities and raise new and unrestricted dollars in an unprecedented way for our region.