Over 5100 gifts made during giveGreater.org 2010 Challenge

Local Nonprofits Split $500,000

New Haven, CT (January 5, 2011) – The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven announced today the winners of the giveGreater.org 2010 Challenge, which attracted over $500,000 for local nonprofits. The figure reflects both the amount of Challenge prize money awarded by The Community Foundation as well as all gifts made to nonprofits via giveGreater.org. To meet the Challenge, local nonprofits with profiles on giveGreater.org had to get at least 50 donors to give at least $50 each between November 1 through December 31, 2010. To incentivize giving, The Community Foundation allocated $200,000 to be awarded as grant prizes to the nonprofits that received the most number of gifts; the following is a list of the top Challenge prize winners by category:

Christian Community Action ($5,000 - Early Bird Prize)
Columbus House ($5,000 - Third Place Prize)
Fair Haven Community Health Center ($15,000 - Early Bird Prize & Second Place Prize)
Gaylord Hospital ($10,000 - Early Bird Prize & Third Place Prize)
Neighborhood Music School ($15,000 - Early Bird Prize & Second Place Prize)
New Haven Symphony Orchestra ($5,000 - Early Bird Prize)
Project Access of New Haven ($5,000 - Third Place Prize)
Solar Youth ($5,000 - Early Bird Prize)
Squash Haven ($20,000 - First Place Prize)

In addition to the larger prize winners listed above, thirty-seven other organizations that met the Challenge received grants each worth $2,875. View a complete list of winners.

The giveGreater.org 2010 Challenge marked the launch of giveGreater.org, a new online knowledge and giving resource provided by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in partnership with Guidestar, a leading source of nonprofit information. The website was created to increase giving to local nonprofits by providing one searchable database for people to find, learn about and give to nonprofits serving the Greater New Haven area.

"By virtually any measure, The Community Foundation's giveGreater.org 2010 Challenge was an outstanding success," said William W. Ginsberg, President & CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. "The success of the Challenge reinforces several things: there exists here a deep reservoir of commitment to this local community; new technologies, tools and resources can assist in tapping that commitment to increase local giving; the more local people know about local issues, opportunities and organizations, the likelier they are to give locally; and the technologies of today and tomorrow can be used to reinforce local connections every bit as effectively as others are using it to reinforce global connections."

"This has been an inspired effort on the part of many who know and love Squash Haven," said Julie Greenwood, Executive Director of the First Place prize-winning organization. "We are grateful to The Community Foundation for their initiative and support, to the many donors who contributed through the giveGreater.org 2010 Challenge, and to the remarkable New Haven young people who motivate us every day. We are honored to be part of the strong community of nonprofits in Greater New Haven."

"There was quite a range in the size, age and geographic spread of the nonprofits that received grant prizes through the 2010 Challenge," said Dr. Penny Canny, Senior Vice President of Grantmaking & Strategy. "Some thought that only large well-established nonprofits, with big budgets, could attract a big number of donors. On-line giving and use of the social network challenged that belief. Squash Haven, the first place $20,000 prize winner, is just three years old and has a budget of $350,000 but they did an impressive job of getting the word out to old and new supporters."

One hundred nonprofits have created profiles on giveGreater.org. The Community Foundation will double the number of profiles now on the database. These new nonprofits will attend training sessions on how to create a profile; training on the use of social media will also be repeated this year.

The giveGreater.org profiles will be used in The Community Foundation's grant application processes; thereby maximizing the value to these time-strapped nonprofits of the time invested in giveGreater.org. Other funders have expressed an interest in using the information provided by giveGreater.org in their grant application processes too.

Since 1928, donors to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven have built the community's endowment currently valued at nearly $300 million. Millions in grants from nearly 800 different named charitable funds support a wide range of programs and projects each year, in perpetuity. For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org.

Contact:
Tricia Caldwell
Communications Manager
203-777-7090
tcaldwell@cfgnh.org