OIL CITY, Pa. — Bridge Builders Community Foundations’ “Week of Giving” campaign continues on Tuesday, March 21, and will run until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 24.
(Photo above: Trenton Moulin, executive director of Bridge Builders Community Foundations.)
Bridge Builders Community Foundations’ first area Week of Giving event is intended to spur collective charitable giving that will be pro-rated through the foundation and will allow donors to give to numerous nonprofits throughout Clarion, Forest, and Venango counties as well as the community of Punxsutawney.
Trenton Moulin, executive director of Bridge Builders Community Foundations, says, “The power of a giving campaign of this size is the potential impact it can have to really change some things and move the needle on issues important to our rural communities.”
Through its extensive work with nonprofits Bridge Builders knows all too well the struggles nonprofits face in raising money and creating change.
“Fundraising has become more competitive in today’s high tech world. We know that there are wonderful causes and projects that lack adequate funding to turn today’s challenges into an opportunity for immense growth and capacity for tomorrow.”
According to Moulin the good news for smaller nonprofits is that online giving is steadily on the rise year-after-year nation-wide. In 2016 online giving grew by 17%, with small nonprofits seeing the biggest increase in years.
“People want to give, but they need it to be really easy and really fast. Online giving allows them to give on their time and makes giving easier than ever.”
The foundation has over 75 nonprofits participating this year. Each one will be listed on the donation page of the www.bbcfgives.org website. Each nonprofit will be listed alphabetically and by category so even if donors don’t know what every organization does they can read their profiles and select nonprofits who align with the causes they care about.
More information is online at www.BBCFgives.org.
(Photos below: nonprofit representatives)
Non-Profit Organizations Participating in “Week of Giving”
(Click on links to view Non-Profits’ Services Provided, Mission Statement, and Photos)
Clarion County
Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts — Goal $10,000.00
Clarion Forest VNA — Goal $10,000.00
Clarion Free Library — Goal $5,000.00
Clarion Hospital Cancer Center
Clarion-Limestone Scholastic Foundation
Family Friendship Bags — Goal $2,000.00
Foxburg Free Library
Heart for Uganda, Inc.
Heavenly Gaits Therapeutic Riding Center — Goal $5,000.00
Immaculate Conception School — Goal $25,000.00
Keystone SMILES Community Learning Center — Goal $16,000.00
SAFE — Clarion County — Goal $5,000.00
Scenic Rivers Association — Goals — Clarion County YMCA, $10,000.00; Oil City YMCA, $10,000.00; Camp Coffman, $10,000.00
Southern Clarion County Ambulance Service
United Community Independence Programs (UCIP) — Goal $3,000.00
United Way of Clarion County
Washington Township Community Association Scholarship Fund — Goal $5,000.00
Winds of Trade Community Center — Goal $1,000.00
Forest County
Clarion Forest VNA — Goal $10,000.00
Friends of the Marienville Area Library — Goal $10,000.00
Neilltown Church Building Rehabilitation — Goal $2,000.00
Taylor Diversion Programs, Inc.
Jefferson County
Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania
LifeSpan Family Services of PA — Goal $2,000.00
Punxsutawney Area Community Center — $3,000.00
Punxsutawney Memorial Library — Goal: 10 New Donors
Punxsutawney Revitalization: Investing, Developing, Enhancing (PRIDE) — Goal $5,000.00
Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center
Punxsutwaney Area Historical and Geneological Society
Venango County
ABC Life Center — Goal $10,000.00
CASA of Venango County — Goal $1,500.00
Catholic Rural Ministry of Oil City Deanery — Goal $40,000.00
Christian Life Academy — Goal $200,000.00
Colonel Drake Cultural Alliance — Goal $50,000.00
Community Services of Venango County — Goal $500.00
Debence Antique Music World-Oil region Music Preservation Museum
Easter Seals Western and Central Pennsylvania
Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library
Family Services & Childrens Aid Society of Venango County
Franklin Library Association
Friends of Drake Well, Inc.
Headwater Charitable Trust
Historic Franklin Preservation Association
Imagination Library-United Way of Venango County
Keystone SMILES Community Learning Center — Goal $16,000.00
Lighthouse Ministries (dba Fishermans Network) — Goal $3,000.00
Mustard Seed Missions of Venango County — Goal $5,000.00
Northwest Hospital Foundation
Oil City Civic Center
Oil City Main Street Program — Goal $2,000.00
Oil Region Library Association (ORLA) (organization operates Oil City Library) — Goal $2,000.00
Scenic Rivers Association — Goals — Clarion County YMCA, $10,000.00; Oil City YMCA, $10,000.00; Camp Coffman, $10,000.00
Seneca Hills Bible Camp and Retreat Center
Shepherd’s Green Community Food Panty
Snacks to Grow On
The Salvation Army
United Community Independence Program (UCIP) — Goal $3,000.00
Venango Area Chamber of Commerce
Venango Museum of Art, Science and Industry
Venango Training & Development Center, Inc.
Venango VNA Foundation
Women and Girls Empowerment Fund
YMCA of Franklin & Grove City; Franklin Branch
Youth Alternatives, Inc. — Goal $6,600.00
To donate, follow this link: https://bbcfgives.org
Donors can select multiple nonprofits to give to within the same transaction, and also allocate varying contributions to each nonprofit selected. Donations received through the Week of Giving event are fully tax deductible donations under applicable federal and state laws.
“The platform we’ve custom developed will be seamless and should only take the average donor a couple of minutes to complete.”
Similar to giving campaigns in larger markets like Erie and Pittsburgh donations will be prorated so the giving goes even further. Thanks to the generosity of Northwest Bank, who is the lead Partner in Giving sponsor and the generosity of the foundation all donations received during the week will be prorated.
Nonprofits can also win prizes for the most individual donations raised, the largest grand total raised and the most creative Week of Giving promotions.
While Moulin is excited about the potential to raise a lot of money in a very short window for local nonprofits, he stresses that this campaign is also about educating people on why our community needs people to give.
“Our philosophy has always been that anyone can be a philanthropist and we want to show them the power they have to make a real difference.”
Additionally companies can participate by pledging to match their employee contributions up to a certain amount. Corporate pledge forms are available online. Bridge Builders will be acknowledging those businesses that choose to step up their giving capacity by sponsoring the campaign or giving corporate matches.
“Now is the perfect time for everyone to step up together, during this week, and contribute something. We can get ahead of some things that have held us back as a community. We know that government and bureaucracies sometimes move too slow to address real-time needs. We’re putting you–the donor–in the driver seat. You choose your cause and you choose what you want to give.”
A Week of Giving results press conference and celebration will be held on Friday, April 7, at 10:00 a.m. in Oil City to announce the grand totals and hand out checks to each participating nonprofit.
Week of Giving Partner in Giving sponsor is Northwest Bank and Community Outreach sponsors include Explore Your Town, LLC, which includes exploreVenango, exploreClarion and exploreJeffersonPA media.
Donations can be given online at bbcfgives.org between 8:00 a.m. on March 20 through March 24 at 11:59 p.m.