The Community Foundation of the New River Valley Annual Report 2024-2025

GIVELOCALNRV GIVING DAY IMPACT SPANS BEYOND 24 HOURS

Springhouse, a small school in Floyd, raises more than $100,000 each year for the Giving Day. Photo courtesy of Springhouse.

An Integral Part of Annual Fundraising Efforts In a region full of traditions, the CFNRV is honored to host an event that has become a staple for many of our region’s charitable organizations: the annual GiveLocalNRV Giving Day. In the 12 years of this event, it has developed beyond just a fun-filled, whirlwind 24 hours. For many organizations, it is integrated into their annual fundraising plan each year. This includes 24 organizations that have participated every year since the event’s inception in 2014. One of those 24 organizations, the YMCA at Virginia Tech, shared how important the event is to them. “The Giving Day has become an indispensable part of our annual fundraising strategy,” said Ryan Martin, the Y’s Chief Executive Officer. “We’ve seen a direct correlation between our consistent participation over the past 12 years and our ability to expand our reach and services. We are truly thankful to the CFNRV for hosting this wonderful event, which celebrates the positive impact nonprofits of all shapes and sizes have on our community.” Months of Planning & Strategizing For the CFNRV team, there’s no real “off” season for the Giving Day. “As soon as one event wraps up, we start planning for the next year,” said Lindsey Gleason-Reed, who manages the project. The CFNRV partners with an organization called Mightycause, which offers both the website platform and robust support for the event. The team stays in contact with Mightycause all year. When January rolls around, planning for the event begins in earnest.

This year, the CFNRV offered more trainings and opportunities to connect with peers than ever for participants. Giving Day season publicly began at the end of February when sign-up opened and 30 people attended an in-person workshop. In addition to three online trainings throughout the spring, the CFNRV also offered four in-person strategy sessions around the NRV. More than 40 people attended these sessions to exchange ideas with peers. Sponsor Contributions Incentivize Participation At the same time our team is working with participants, we are also connecting with business leaders across the NRV to discuss sponsorships. Their support, combined with funding from the CFNRV, fuels the grants and prizes awarded during each Giving Day. In 2025, we gave out 30 different awards to organizations meeting different milestones during the event. All these awards are designed to drive donor participation and generate friendly competition among participating organizations. Milestones often include raising the most money or having the highest number of unique donors during a specific period. Other awards include random chance drawings, such as our two “Far Away” donor prizes, which encourage giving outside the NRV. Any online donation from a billing address 2,000 or miles away from the CFNRV’s office counts toward these prizes. Then, the winners are randomly selected after the event ends. 127 donations qualified for these particular prizes this year. Watching the Giving Day’s impact engage donors around our region and the world is gratifying for everyone involved in the event.

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THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE NEW RIVER VALLEY