The Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV) once again set a Giving Day record, raising $519,643 from some $2,250 donors for nonprofits across the New River River.
The event exceeded its $430,000 goal. In the eight years of the program to date, the Giving Day has raised more than $2.1 million.
The CFNRV also awarded $15,000 in incentive grants, which encourage active participation during the Giving Day. Sixteen organizations received these awards for the largest number of unique donors, two superstars, most money raised, a grant for the best video, power hour awards, and more.
The incentive grant award winners:
1) Most Money Raised ($1,500 each): Large Organization: YMCA at Virginia Tech; Medium Organization: Springhouse Community School; Small Organization: New River Valley Leading Lights.
2) Most Unique Donors ($1,000 each): Large Organization: St. John Neumann Academy; Medium Organization: Montgomery Museum of Art & History; Small Organization: Calfee Community & Cultural Center
3) Video Grant ($1,000): Women’s Resource Center of the NRV.
4) Golden Ticket Winners ($500 each): 10 a.m.: Friends of the Huckleberry Trail; 2 p.m.: Live Work Eat Grow; 8 p.m.: New River Land Trust.
5) Peer-to-Peer ($500): The Agape Center.
6) Power Hour Grant ($500 each): Early Bird: Literacy Volunteers of the NRV; Coffee Break: Springhouse: Awakening Vitality; Lunch Hour: NRV CARES; Happy Hour: Children’s Advocacy Center of the NRV; Finish Line: Calfee Community & Cultural Center.
7) 2021 Superstar Awards ($1,000 each): Downtown Christiansburg, Inc.; Floyd Center for the Arts.
NRV CARES was the winner of one of five power hour grants this year for the most unique donors in a given time period. They won the lunch break power hour and encouraged their donors to give during the noon hour to help them win.
Andi Golusky, NRV CARES’ executive director said, “With this being our first year at really promoting GiveLocalNRV, we were excited to win the lunch break power hour award. We have incredible donors, and they really helped us to secure this awesome award. For a small organization like ours, awards like this make us literally jump for joy.”
Golusky shared a video on the NRV CARES Facebook page of staff members jumping with joy to show donors how excited the organization was to win the grant. The video also included a thank-you message.
Each year, the CFNRV Board of Directors chooses a Video Grant winner to honor an organization that creates a video promoting its nonprofit and GiveLocalNRV. This year, the winner was the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley (WRC).
Laura Beth Weaver, the WRC’s executive director, said, “The WRC is honored to be chosen as the video winner this year. GiveLocalNRV is a wonderful reminder that while the needs of our neighbors are great, so, too, is the generosity of our community. The clients of the WRC and so many other worthy and valuable programs benefit from the coalescing of support on days like GiveLocal.”
Community members can learn more about the event and continue to make donations to their favorite nonprofit organizations through the platform year-round at www.givelocalnrv.org.
