The Magic of Marketing

By Kayla Arnesen, Director of Marketing & Strategic Communications

Last December, did you tweet about #COGivesDay? Did you post a yard sign? Did you share a ColoradoGives news story with a friend? If you did, then thank you for being part of Colorado Gives Day’s marketing magic!

Colorado Gives Day is more than just a day, it’s a statewide movement to inspire giving. One of the greatest benefits of being a ColoradoGives nonprofit in December is being able to market your organization as part of the state’s largest day of giving.

At Community First Foundation, the marketing and communications team worked to elevate excitement for Colorado Gives Day to a fever pitch leading up to December 6, 2016. The results were outstanding: generous donors gave $33.8 million to more than 2,000 nonprofits on ColoradoGives.org.

We wanted to share a few fun highlights! Media relations and community outreach from August to December 2016 resulted in:

759 news stories for a total potential reach of 373 million individuals.
Colorado Gives Day trended locally on Twitter for most of the day. In the morning, #ColoradoGivesDay was the top trend in the Denver region. In the afternoon, #COGives was the trending hashtag.
657 users visited the ColoradoGives blog 880 times. These users generated 1,397 total website page views (947 unique page views).
500 Colorado Gives Day yard signs were posted across the Front Range.
A sponsor-produced 30-second video was shown on 182 screens at 23 movie theaters across Colorado. Total impressions, based on average attendance, is 264,999.
The in-kind value of media sponsorships totaled $446,111. Sponsors included KUSA-TV (Denver NBC affiliate), 5280 (Denver’s premier lifestyle magazine), two public television stations, Univision Denver, iHeartMedia (owner of eight radio stations), Comcast cable, Outdoor Promotions of Colorado (bus shelters) and Mile High Outdoor Advertising (electronic billboards).

Colorado Gives Day has changed the giving landscape in Colorado. The numbers show overwhelming support for Colorado nonprofits and the important work they do to make our lives better.

Bus shelter in Jefferson County; yard sign; results posted in Times Square

[1] Numbers calculated using Meltwater, a media intelligence company that provides media monitoring services. Meltwater.com

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Blog 1: Tips on How to Read Form 990

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$36.1 million raised on Colorado Gives Day!

Marla J. Williams, president and CEO, Community First Foundation Thank you, Colorado! I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on another year of extraordinary giving. As you know, earlier this week on Colorado Gives Day people from across our state and around the country opened their hearts to give. Their generosity resulted in $36,129,285 million in donations to 2,309 Colorado nonprofit organizations. This record-breaking amount surpassed last year’s Colorado Gives Day total, which raised an impressive $33.8 million. Since its debut in 2010, Colorado Gives Day has raised more than $181 million for Colorado nonprofits. One thing is clear: generous donors and the nonprofits that inspire them are the heart of Colorado Gives Day. Although Community First Foundation provides the giving platform, participating nonprofits have taken ownership of this event and spread the word far and wide, which is the main Colorado Gives Day success story. Through your efforts every year, mo

FirstBank Sets $100,000 Aside for Nonprofit Prizes on Colorado Gives Day

By Lisa Adams, FirstBank FirstBank has been a proud supporter of Colorado Gives Day , the state’s largest online giving movement, since its launch in 2010. Everyone at FirstBank is passionate about the initiative and honored to give back to the local communities that have helped us grow and succeed. Each year, we provide more than $600,000 in support for ColoradoGives, including $100,000 that goes straight to nonprofit organizations through several fun prize programs: "Why Colorado Gives” Social Media Prizes ($1,000 each) From Monday, November 30, through Friday, December 4, FirstBank Facebook fans will have a chance to win one of fifteen $1,000 cash prizes to donate to the Colorado Gives charity of their choice. To qualify, fans will have to post a photo or video to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram about why they give. When posting your photo on Facebook make sure the privacy settings are set to public so Community First Foundation & FirstBank can view it. Posts

ColoradoGives.org

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