Virginia, get your wallets ready, because chances are, there is a “give local” event near you coming soon.
We all know about Giving Tuesday, a national movement to make charitable contributions at a time when many nonprofits are trying to get those final, end-of-year gifts in hand. But it turns out, the trend across Virginia is to host these localized fundraising events to welcome the spring and summer seasons.
We’ve collected giving opportunities from across the commonwealth, and if your local community foundation is on the list below, we hope you mark your calendars.
March 19, 2024: Give Choose – Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties
Designated as its community’s largest day of giving, Give Choose is a 24-hour donation event serving as a vehicle for community giving to nonprofits in the region. The local community foundation also awards prizes for nonprofits that hit milestones along the way. All Ages Read Together is an organization that has participated in the past and is counting on donations this year. Last year, the nonprofit raised $17,000 through the effort, and its executive director, Michelle Sullivan, is looking forward to this year’s event.
“Give Choose is one of All Ages Read Together’s favorite ways to connect with the greater Loudoun County area,” Sullivan said. “It’s the biggest nonprofit giving event in our community and is one we return to year after year to share how our story is evolving with new and familiar faces. We are able to demonstrate the direct impact of our free preschool programs to the folks who live and work alongside our students and their families, which makes our message so much more impactful.”
April 17, 2024: Great Community Give – The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County
Another day of giving called Great Community Give is hosted in April by The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. But, unlike other days of giving listed here, you only have 14 hours to make your donations.
The list of participating nonprofits isn’t live yet, but that shouldn’t stop you from marking your calendar for an awesome day of local giving.
April 23, 2024: Give Local 757 – The Peninsula Community Foundation
In the Hampton Roads region, the Give Local 757 event has generated $10.8 million from thousands of donors across the area to support nonprofits of all shapes and sizes. At the time of this writing, there are 175 nonprofit organizations eagerly awaiting this 24-hour day of giving. Nonprofits have until March 31 to register to participate.
Children’s Harbor, which we featured in 2023, previously participated in the day of giving and raised almost $10,000. It is participating again in this year’s event… will it beat its previous total? We’ll be keeping tabs to find out.
May 14, 2024: Give Local Piedmont – Northern Piedmont Community Foundation & PATH Foundation
This day of giving is another model that has a one-two punch for nonprofits, where Northern Piedmont Community Foundation (NPCF) serves as the vessel for giving, and PATH Foundation contributes additional dollars over the course of the event as nonprofits reach fundraising milestones and goals. Give Local Piedmont started in 2014 and has raised $9.1 million for community organizations in Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Rappahannock counties.
“The program was started to highlight and emphasize the work that the nonprofits do in our four countries,” said Jane Bowling-Wilson, executive director of the NPCF. “It gives nonprofits increased exposure, it’s fun and it’s a way for nonprofits to acquire new donors.”
June 26-27, 2024: GiveLocalNRV – The Community Foundation of the New River Valley
GiveLocalNRV is a single-day-of-giving event that got its start in 2014; since then, it’s raised nearly $3.6 million for local nonprofits. The Community Foundation of the New River Valley reports that last year, 115 organizations participated in the event and $921,648 was raised by 3,329 unique donors. For this year’s event, which takes place from noon to noon June 26-27, nonprofits have until May 15 to register to participate.
If you have 25 minutes to spare, consider watching this Blue Ridge PBS story about The Community Foundation and last year’s 10th anniversary of its GiveLocalNRV day.
