Opinion

Valley Gives: A Celebration of Generosity

The Pioneer Valley has a long tradition of philanthropy — a culture of giving that has benefited youth- and family-serving organizations, educational initiatives, colleges and universities, healthcare institutions, and many other community-serving organizations in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.

This generosity has had a meaningful impact on life in the Valley, even if this can be difficult to quantify. For much of the previous century, this generosity in our region sometimes was quiet, because those with means directed their contributions to one particular organization or even anonymously to the causes for which they had a passion.

In time, there came a desire to gather the philanthropic instinct of the Valley into an organized movement. Thus, in 1991, a group of local visionaries — led by our friend, the late Dick Stebbins, and others — helped to form and launch the Community Foundation of Western Mass.

In just over 20 years, the Community Foundation has grown into a respected institution, responsible for $121 million in assets for which it has grant-making responsibility. In just the last year alone, the foundation rendered $7.8 million in grants, $2 million of which went to scholarships and educational loans. And philanthropy continues to be on the rise in the Valley, as new gifts to the foundation for the most recent fiscal year totaled $8.4 million.

These are impressive numbers for sure. But there are many nonprofits in the Valley that need help, and, currently, there are not sufficient resources to support all of them adequately. We also know there are so many more in the Valley who are generous, who want to help the causes, organizations, and initiatives that make living in here so special.

At the same time, there is ample and growing evidence that philanthropy from the grassroots is well on its way to dwarfing traditional philanthropy. In 2001, just 4% of Internet users made an online donation. By last year, 65% of Internet users, a huge number, made an online donation. Over the past five years, fund-raising through social media alone has doubled to almost $1 billion.

Early last year, as longtime supporters of the Community Foundation, we approached the organization’s leadership to discuss how to get more individuals, from every corner of the Valley, involved in growing this culture of giving in the region.

After much discussion, research, and outreach to find successful models for inspiring new donors, we discovered community ‘giving day’ campaigns throughout the U.S. that in a single 24-hour period have raised millions for nonprofits. This tapping in to community-wide generosity served as the inspiration for the launch of Valley Gives.

The impact of community-giving days has been swift and impressive. In Minnesota, Nevada, Michigan, and New Haven, Conn., millions of charitable dollars have been raised from tens of thousands of donors in just one day. These results confirm that Americans welcome online giving. We think we can have the same success here.

In short, Valley Gives is a one-of-a-kind celebration of generosity in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties. On Dec. 12 — 12/12/12 — residents of the three counties will join together for 24 hours of special events and online campaigns with the goal of getting thousands of Valley residents to make gifts to their favorite charities and nonprofits.

Anyone with a computer or mobile device, which is just about everyone, can participate. Starting at 12:01 a.m., residents of the Valley can visit the website, find the cause they care most about — or several at the same time — and make their contribution online. On the 12th, there will also be mobile giving stations located at areas of high foot traffic, such as malls.

The choices in spreading generosity and making a difference will be many — more than 250 nonprofits and the critical work they do will be represented on the Valley Gives website.

The initiative has an ambitious goal of raising $1 million in a single day from thousands of donors, large and small, via the Internet, much of it driven through social media, to help our nonprofits sustain and expand the important work they do.

We hope you will join us in supporting the causes and initiatives you care about by giving in this new way. Valley Gives is likely to engage more individuals supporting more causes in our region than ever before. Visit the website valleygivesday.org and be a part of starting something new, something big, in the Pioneer Valley.

Al Griggs and Paul Doherty are business leaders, supporters of the Community Foundation, and catalysts for the
Valley Gives initiative.