Go Big Give making difference in area’s philanthropic giving

A vision to create the Go Big Red type energy linked to Nebraska’s beloved Husker football program has taken on a synergy of its own with the growing success of the Go Big Give campaign.
Launched in 2014 as a joint venture of the Heartland United Way and Grand Island Community Foundation, Go Big Give has evolved into a regional effort that raises money, and lots of it, while simultaneously lifting up the work and worthy causes of more than 150 area nonprofit agencies.
Hamilton County has created its own successful model of philanthropic giving over the past 40 years. Local foundations, combined, have generated more than $65 million in assets over that time, providing scholarships, matching funds and seed money for young people and projects too numerous to count. You simply can’t attach a dollar figure to the impact those funds have had, and will continue to have, on the lives of individuals and our community as a whole.
What’s fascinating about the Go Big Give campaign is that it is helping create a connection with the Heartland United Way umbrella in a most positive way. The United Way has been providing funds and support to area nonprofit agencies in Hamilton, Hall, Howard and Merrick counties for years, though in some ways it has been perceived as a Grand Island entity. That’s simply not the case, as a number of agencies benefitting from the United Way campaign either serve clientele in Hamilton County, or are based here.
The vision 10 years ago in a joint United Way/G.I. Community Foundation board meeting was to “reinvent philanthropic giving in this area,” United Way president Karen Rathke recalled. The “test run” in 2014 went better than expected, raising $251,984. Since that debut event the growth has been nothing short of phenomenal, raising a whopping $1.47 last year and $7.43 million total.
This combined fundraising approach has encouraged nonprofit agencies to give some thought to how they communicate funding needs to their own donor base. A user-friendly website (GoBigGive.org) makes it easy to donate and offers help in earmarking your gift for a local agency or dividing it up any way you so choose. As an added bonus, Hamilton County residents are also realizing that their support of the Heartland United Way benefits folks in need right here at home.
Take the time to tune in, log on and show your support Thursday to a Go Big Give campaign that is truly making a difference.
Kurt Johnson