A Recipe for Nonprofit Engagement and a Dash of Healthy Competition!

During the 2018 Giving Challenge, The Patterson Foundation (TPF) offered up to $51,000 in prizes beyond the 1:1 match to the top fifteen organizations that cultivated the highest number of unique donors. By offering this separate opportunity, TPF gave nonprofits another avenue to pursue as they set their priorities for the event. Prizes were distributed across three categories based on the size of each organization:

More than 630 nonprofits participated in the 2018 Giving Challenge and spent months building plans to leverage it, including creative communications campaigns to reach potential donors before and during the 24 hours.

Of the 75 total prizes that were given, (TPF gave 15; Manatee Community Foundation, Charlotte Community Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, the Herald-Tribune Media Group, iHeart Radio, and Harbor Style Magazine gave the rest) three of the winners were participants in Margin & Mission Ignition's 30-month earned-income venture:

TPF would be remiss not to mention UnidosNow and SailFuture. Both organizations dominated the friendly competition taking home four prizes each!

As with the matching dollars, prize money can be utilized as each winning organization sees fit. And while these funds will be immediately useful, there's an even greater value in the new relationships this incentive helped to form - and the new possibilities they will create for a group of innovative nonprofits.