Go Big GIVE event to aid 28 county nonprofits

Nonprofit organizations across Hamilton, Hall, Howard and Merrick counties will take part in the 11th annual Go Big GIVE online campaign opening with Pre-GIVE Monday, April 22 and will continue until the one-day fundraising event on Thursday, May 2, ending at 11:59 p.m.
Go Big GIVE, co-hosted by the Greater Grand Island Community Foundation and Heartland United Way, will be promoting 155 nonprofits throughout the four counties.
“The event overall generates a significant number of new donations and new donors which is nice, because it creates new connections for organizations either to volunteering or just for the donor base,” said Tammy Morris, executive director of the Hamilton Community Foundation.
In last year’s Go Big GIVE, 25 nonprofits participated among 157 organizations, with Hamilton County raising over $300,000 for the campaign total of $1,653,234 from 5,013 donations. Within a decade, Go Big GIVE has raised $9,085,364 for over 200 nonprofit organizations with 6,352 donations.
Starting Monday with Pre-GIVE, those who donate can be eligible for incentive prizes.
“When people make a donation, their gift is eligible for match bowl funds, but if they don’t make the donation online, it does not qualify for any of the prizes,” Morris explained.  
Donors can donate to charities within any of the four counties at www.gobigGIVE.com where they can find organizations based on location and cause. The website also provides the organizations’ mission and how the donations will be used.
“It gives an idea based on how much they want to give and what their donation does, so it could do all different types of things,” Morris said. 
While Morris encouraged donors to avoid using Internet Explorer to access the website and also cautioned against donating with an American Express card, donors can give $10 or more to their chosen nonprofits.
“The minimum donation is $10, but there’s no limit,” Morris stated. “It’s so important for people and every single donation counts. A lot of people sometimes think for philanthropy, you have to give big dollars, but with Go Big GIVE every donation counts. It makes a difference.”
And Morris said that every donation given in this year’s campaign will grow through match pool funds.
“Let’s say they raise $1.5 million and the Plainsman Museum raises $10,000,” Morris said. “Then we take that times 100, divided by the total pool, which is $1.5 million. So they raised 0.66 percent of the money and they get that times $90,000. That rounds and they get an incentive out of that money.”
Karen Rathke, Heartland United Way President and Chief Professional Officer, highlighted that incentive prizes will be offered by sponsors of Go Big GIVE to amplify donations, such as the Lutz Pre-GIVE drawing.
“If people have donated during pre-GIVE, they can show their receipt and then they can be entered into a drawing to win a $500 prize that will be donated to the nonprofit that they select,” Rathke stated.
If donors are unable to decide which organizations they want to donate to, they can select ‘Support Them All’ on the Go Big GIVE website, which will evenly split their donation to every organization participating in the campaign.
“It is just an incredible opportunity for nonprofit organizations to have all the tools that they need to host a fundraiser online and have their all donations grow either through Support Them All, the proportional share of the match pool funds or through all the incentive prizes that will be offered throughout Pre-GIVE and GIVE day,” Rathke commented.

Hamilton County participants
Nonprofit entities in Hamilton County participating in this year’s Go Big GIVE campaign include 12th Street Cinema, Art Walk Aurora, Aurora Adopt-A-Pet, Aurora Library Foundation, Aurora Public Schools Foundation, Aurora Softball Association, Banisters Leadership Academy, Bremer Community Center, Edgerton Explorit Center, Giltner Public School Foundation, Hamilton Community Foundation, Hamilton County 4-H Council, Hamilton County Backpack Program, Hamilton County Food Pantry, Hamilton County Inclusive Playground, Hamilton County Senior Center, Hamilton County Youth Center, Hampton Housing Solutions, Hampton Public Schools Foundation, Memorial Foundation, Opportune Acres, Phillips Community Foundation, Plainsman Museum/Hamilton County Historical Society, Prairie Plains Resource Institute, Sozo Family Services, TeamMates of Aurora, The Leadership Center and Habitat For Humanity.
For more information, visit GoBigGIVE.org.