It’s a nonprofit love-fest of sorts.
For one day, Thursday, March 20, people can make a difference for a dozen Moab nonprofits through Love Utah Give Utah. In support of local nonprofits, individuals will be able to go online and donate to some of the area’s most important programs. Participating for only the second time, Moab’s nonprofits hope to make this Love Utah Give Utah campaign even more successful than last year.
Love Utah Give Utah is a fundraising campaign led by the Community Foundation of Utah. It is a 24-hour virtual fundraiser encouraging Utahans to donate to local and statewide nonprofits. This year, the event will take place Thursday, March 20 and Moab has 12 nonprofits participating. The nonprofits set to participate this year include the Moab Teen Center, Moab Music Festival, Moab Free Health Clinic, Moab BEACON Afterschool Program, Canyonlands Field Institute, KZMU, Grand Area Mentoring, Canyonlands Community Recycling, WabiSabi, Seekhaven, Moab Charter School, and the Moab Valley Multicultural Center.
“Utahans are the most charitable people in the United States,” said Fraser Nelson, Community Foundation of Utah executive director. “Last year, Love Utah Give Utah gave us a chance to demonstrate that generosity in a new way – a 24-hour online day of giving. More than 6,500 people from across Utah raised an astonishing $800,000 for 357 charities in just one day. This year on Thursday, March 20, we’re hoping to blow the roof off that record, and help 500 organizations.”
Instead of traditional fundraising tactics such as hosting dinners or events, Love Utah Give Utah utilizes crowd-source funding. With crowd-source funding, organizations look to a large group of people, the “crowd,” for multiple smaller donations to get a larger lump sum in the end. Crowd-source funding is usually conducted using a web platform.
“Crowd-source funding is the new wave of donating,” BEACON Afterschool Program director Stephanie Dahlstrom said. “People these days, especially the younger crowd, want to get online, donate, and then it is done.”
Each organization creates goals it would like to reach with the Love Utah Give Utah fundraiser. These goals can be viewed at the fundraiser’s Web site by searching for the organization. For example, WabiSabi hopes to raise $10,000 to purchase an industrial baler so it can increase its bulk sales.
“It would be a sustainable, long-term impact to be able to raise that much money,” said Nara Bopp-Williams, a Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) volunteer with WabiSabi. “To increase our bulk sales would be a huge increase in our sales each year, and then we would be able to give that money back to the community.”
Besides offering a fundraising platform, nonprofits are able to use the Love Utah Give Utah campaign to raise awareness about their organization and the services they offer. Since the fundraiser is online and nonprofits from all over Utah are participating on the same day, organizations can reach new audiences.
“Love Utah Give Utah is great exposure for Seekhaven and allows our organization to showcase the services we provide to a more sizable community,” Seekhaven director Michael Gardner said. “Ultimately, making people aware of how to access our services when they are in need is just as important as the fundraising aspect of this event.”
Last year, all of the nonprofits participating in the fundraiser hosted an all-day event in downtown Moab. The organizations worked together to provide a day filled with food, activities and music. This year will be different.
“We decided to revamp it this year and really scale it down,” Dahlstrom said. “It is really about online giving and you don’t need a physical presence when you have that. All your marketing is online.”
Most organizations will be spending the day online posting and tweeting about the campaign; however, there will still be some events throughout the day to help encourage and remind people to donate. On Thursday morning from 8 to 10 a.m., a representative from each of the participating nonprofits will be at Love Muffin Cafe. The representatives will have information about their organizations. Also, public service announcements and live interviews at different organizations will be aired on local radio stations KZMU 90.1 FM and KCYN 97.1 FM. The entire group will reconvene at Eddie McStiff’s Garden Room from 6 to 8 p.m.
“If people come to Eddie McStiff’s and donate to an organization, and they do a small purchase, like a drink or an appetizer, they will get a free ice cream sundae,” said Sara Hinck, a VISTA volunteer at the Moab BEACON Afterschool Program.
WabiSabi will have information tables at both WabiSabi South and WabiSabi East. People will be able to visit these locations to get more information about how to donate and about WabiSabi’s goals for the fundraiser. Donations can also be made on-site at these locations.
“We will be giving T-shirts away to people who donate,” Bopp-Williams said. “We will have Wabi prizes and coupons, and that will be all day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at both locations.”
The Moab Valley Multicultural Center (MVMC) will be hosting a full schedule of events for the day. Starting at 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., visitors to the Eklecticafe can mention the MVMC and 10 percent of the profits from sales will be donated to Love Utah Give Utah for MVMC.
At the Multicultural Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. a carne asada lunch will be served.
“Central Utah Insurance is sponsoring the lunch,” MVMC director Rhiana Medina said. “We’ve got volunteers and staff that will be manning the grills.We’ve got clients that we are giving services to that will be donating the rice and beans. So, we will be cooking (at the center). It will be $10 a plate. You can stay or go. We will have tables and chairs out on the patio, and it will be delicious.”
Between 3 and 5 p.m., volunteers for the MVMC will be canvassing neighborhoods with information about MVMC and Love Utah Give Utah. Finally, there will be a film, “Fruitvale Station,” from 7 to 9 p.m. at Star Hall with a pre-film hors d’oeuvres and wine reception at the Museum of Moab from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Hors d’oeuvres are being provided by Buck’s Grill House and wine by Castle Creek Winery.
People will be able to donate to the organization of their choice through the Love Utah Give Utah Web site starting on March 20 at midnight. The event will run for 24 hours. Each participating organization has an individualized Web page to promote its cause. Information about each nonprofit, along with specific fundraising goals can be found by searching “Moab” at www.loveUTgiveUT.org.
“It’s great to see community support of great programming,” Dahlstrom said.
24-hour online fundraiser begins at midnight on March 20
“Utahans are by far the most charitable people in the United States. Last year Love Utah Give Utah gave us a chance to demonstrate that generosity in a new way – a 24-hour online day of giving. More than 6,500 people from across Utah raised an astonishing $800,000 for 357 charities in just one day. This year on Thursday, March 20, we’re hoping to blow the roof off that record, and help 500 organizations.”
When: Midnight on Thursday, March 20 through Midnight on Friday, March 21
Who: A dozen Moab nonprofit organizations
How: visit LoveUTgiveUT.org and make a donation to the organization of your choice
