The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation kicked off Give Big CHQ last week, opening the seventh annual 24-hour day of community giving throughout Chautauqua County. The effort to raise dollars and awareness for local nonprofit organizations took place on June 13.

Hosted by the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, this year, Give Big CHQ featured 135 nonprofit organization from across Chautauqua County. Each organization involved created individual fundraising pages for a specific project or to support their overall mission and was able to directly accept donations on givebigchq.org the day of the event.

According to Tory Irgang, executive director of the Foundation, “This annual event is a great way to recognize and help support the numerous nonprofits that are doing important work in our community year-round.”

For these nonprofits, outreach and awareness about their missions represents its own success alone–on top of the opportunities for financial support.

“In addition to being a convenient way for donors to support one, or many of the organizations they care about, this day has truly become about bringing people together in a community effort,” she said.

Of the more than $390,000 generated from this year’s event alone, the majority of the donations received were below the $50 mark. During the 24-hour event donations from over 2,500 donors were received, amassing over 3,900 donations to support 132 nonprofits. Organizations again spanned many sectors, including animal welfare, arts and culture, basic needs, environment, human services, recreation and youth development.

Throughout the day, the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation sponsored several prizes totaling $25,000, which were used as a tool for nonprofits to incentivize donors and help in their overall fundraising efforts. This year 94 organizations qualified to receive prize dollars which ranged from a few hundred to one thousand dollars.

Since 2018, this annual giving day has helped to raise over $2 million to directly support local nonprofits. For more information on the Give Big CHQ, visit givebigchq.org and/or follow #GiveBigCHQ on Facebook and Instagram. Gifts to non-profit endowments can be made directly to the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation year-round at crcfonline.org/give or at 418 Spring Street Jamestown NY 14701.

The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation administers over 700 endowments in support of emerging community needs, charitable organizations and local students pursuing higher education. For more information visit www.crcfonline.org or contact Lisa Lynde, Donor Services Officer at 716-661-3390 or llynde@crcfonline.org.