Give Carthage Day, a special day of giving presented by Carthage Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Bass Pro Shops, will take place on Wednesday, March 24. The online crowdfunding event will run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at GiveCarthage.org.
Seven of CCF’s nonprofit partners will be raising funds and competing for $60,000 in “Luck of the Draw” prizes provided by event sponsors:
- artCentral
- Carthage Area United Way
- Carthage Council on the Arts
- Carthage Family Literacy Council
- Carthage Historic Preservation, Inc.
- Fair Acres Family YMCA
- Vision Carthage
A year after the COVID-19 pandemic spread through the Ozarks, many nonprofits are still grappling with the impact of cancelled events, an increased demand for services or technological challenges from the shift to virtual services. With the theme “Rally for Recovery,” Give Carthage Day gives donors the opportunity to help participating agencies raise much-needed funds.
“Our community has depended so much on our nonprofits to help us through this difficult year, and Give Carthage Day is a great way to show them how much we care,” CFO President Brian Fogle said. “We hope people will be as generous as they can be, no matter their means. With the latest stimulus checks arriving right now, Give Carthage Day comes at a great time for our community.”
“Give Carthage Day 2021 is more important than ever as operations of nonprofits have been greatly affected by COVID-19 over the past year,” CCF Board President Jeff Williams said. “We hope our community will rally together on March 24th to raise funds to support these nonprofits and the important work they do in Carthage.”
Donating on Give Carthage Day
All donations for agencies participating in Give Carthage Day will be received online. The event is powered by CauseMomentum.org, the CFO’s crowdfunding platform developed in partnership with Springfield-based digital agency Mostly Serious. Each participating agency partner will have a fundraising page on the site to describe its program goals and financial needs that would be supported by donations.
Donors can visit GiveCarthage.org on March 24 to make secure, tax-deductible gifts by credit card starting at $5. To make giving easy and efficient, donors can take advantage of a shopping cart feature that allows them to donate to multiple agencies with a single transaction. Online gifts of just $5 or more give the participating nonprofits chances to earn additional matches and hourly prize drawings to support their efforts.
$60,000 in “Luck of the Draw” Prizes
For every unique donor that gives to an agency each hour during Give Carthage Day and Give Ozarks Day, that agency will have a chance to win a $5,000 “Luck of the Draw” prize. Donors can share their support for their favorite agencies on social media to encourage others to donate and increase the agency’s chances of winning.
All sponsorship dollars are dedicated to these prizes for agencies. Along with Bass Pro Shops, sponsors include: Burrell Behavioral Health; Central Bank and Central Trust Co.; the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation managed by Commerce Trust; the Darr Family Foundation; Great Southern Bank; Guaranty Bank; the Hatch Foundation; Legacy Bank; Ollis/Akers/Arney; and SFC Bank. KY3/KSPR and Springfield Business Journal are the event’s media sponsors.
The Marsh Family Foundation and CCF are also providing matches and prizes for CCF nonprofit partners.
Special Livestreams
To celebrate Give Ozarks Day, the CFO, KY3/KSPR and the Ozarks Performing Arts League will host a series of special livestreams on Facebook Live. Anchors from KY3 and KSPR will be joined by sponsor representatives to announce the “Luck of the Draw” prize recipients, while OPAL members and other local performers will provide entertainment. OPAL is a collaborative effort of Springfield Ballet, Springfield Little Theatre, Springfield Regional Arts Council and Springfield Regional Opera.
Beginning with the kickoff of the event at 7 a.m. and continuing at the top of each hour through 7 p.m., the livestreams can be viewed at facebook.com/cfozarks/live.
About Give Ozarks Day and the CFO
The participants are nonprofit agency partners of the CFO, which are organizations with 501(c)3 or equivalent status that have established a fund with the CFO. Through fund management, endowments and a host of other services, the CFO’s Agency Partner Program helps build stronger organizations to better serve their communities. More than 600 agency partners across the region participate in the program.
Founded in 1973, the CFO is the region’s largest public charitable foundation serving a network of donors, 52 regional affiliate foundations — including Carthage Community Foundation — and nonprofit partners across central and southern Missouri through with assets of $310 million as of June 30.
