The third annual “Mohawk Valley Gives” campaign will be held on September 20, 2024. It’s a 24-hour community-wide giving day to benefit nonprofit organizations serving the Mohawk Valley.
During last year’s Giving Day, the community raised more than $2.4 million, benefiting over 250 local organizations.
Participating nonprofits can promote their mission, raise unrestricted dollars to support their organization’s needs, and be entered to win several prizes and incentives throughout the giving day.
Donors can engage with local causes they care about by sponsoring prizes, starting a fundraiser to share with friends, family, and colleagues, or simply donating to one or more participating organizations.
We spoke with Kristen Smith and Kayla Ellis from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida County, which has existed since 1952. They provided more details about the upcoming campaign.
Kristen is a Boston native who moved here about six years ago. Her background is in nonprofits and higher education. “When my husband and I had an opportunity to move here, we snagged it.” She is a fund and systems strategist for the organization.
When asked about the Mohawk Valley Gives Campaign, Smith said, “It’s an online-focused day of giving to benefit any and all nonprofits in our Mohawk Valley. It’s an opportunity for nonprofits to raise unrestricted dollars for their organizations at no cost to them.”
Kayla was born and raised in the Utica area and, after graduating from college, started working in marketing. She’s now the foundation’s business communications manager.
She said, “We’re not just a grantmaker, but more of a partner for our local nonprofits. We’re also taking on larger, more impactful initiatives that are going to help this community for years to come.”
She gave a couple of examples: the neighborhood revitalization efforts and the Cornhill project, which is a $75 million initiative with a thirty-year commitment.
“We’ve been working on this for a number of years,” she stated. “It’s really a collaborative effort to bring two impact centers to the Cornhill neighborhood.”
Kayla said, “We started the Mohawk Valley Gives Campaign in 2022. We were just looking for a different way to support the fundraising needs of nonprofits. It also happened to be our 70th anniversary that year, so we were like, what could we do to kick this off with a real cool and unique idea.”
They both said it was a time when we were coming out of COVID-19, and people were starting to dip their toes in the water of doing social things again.
“It felt like there was a need for an engagement opportunity to bring some folks together,” Kristen stated.
They both said that the program has been improved each year, with plenty of pleasant surprises.
“The first year going into it, it was almost like we were going in blind because we didn’t know how the nonprofits would react or how donors would interact with the date. It was new and didn’t have that brand recognition,” Kayla said. But, “We were shocked.”
Kristen said, “We were joking in the office whether we’d have 20 or 25 organizations register.”
That first year, they had 137 registered nonprofits and raised $630,000. “We were like, wow, that’s great. Next year, we need to try and hit a million,” Kayla said. “That was our goal.”
They far exceeded that goal in 2023 and hit $2.5 million raised with 255 organizations participating.
“I think a lot of that can be attributed to matches and challenges that were handed out by great partnerships with UpMobility Foundation and others,” Kayla stated.
This year, more than 320 organizations are participating. “We’ll see the $3 million mark, is what we’re thinking, but who knows?” Kristen said.
The Community Foundation has partnered again with the UpMobility Foundation, which is serving as a host. Both are really utilizing the platform and structure in place to further build the capacity of nonprofits through the program.
There is a quiet early giving phase that begins September 16, 2024 and ends September 22, 2024. But the best bang for your buck is to give on the day of giving, September 20, 2024.
“We have around $80,000 of prize money that will be offered to the nonprofits on the 20th. While we really want to encourage giving on the 20th, we don’t want to turn someone away who just happens to get on the website two days before,” Kayla stated.
They both wanted to let us in on a little secret about the 20th, stating, “We are actually going to be bringing back something that The Community Foundation had done a few years back in 2018/2019. We did something called the Community Choice Awards, where we went out on our prize patrol bus and delivered big checks to nonprofits. So, have that concept in your head and think MV Gives. That is what we will be doing for a good portion of the day on the 20th. That’s all I’m going to say,” Kayla said.
“It’s going to be a very busy but fun-spirited event,” Kristen said.
They group will be doing news pieces during the day, Facebook live events, and will be working with other sponsors during the day.
“We want to make sure that all of the organizations benefit from this. We love to watch that leaderboard and see the organizations all shift. Being able to see that even the ones that are at the bottom have earned something is always just fantastic,” Kayla stated.
They both believed that the campaign has already had a really positive start.
The Creative Outpost, Inc., My Little Falls’ parent nonprofit, is participating in the campaign. To donate to us, visit givemv.org/organizations/the-creative-outpost-inc. To find out more about the entire campaign, visit givemv.org.
