Santa Cruz Gives Back

Countywide Holiday Giving Campaign Returns for its Fifth Year

Santa Cruz Gives, the first crowdsourcing website for fundraising for multiple nonprofits countywide (and the only one we know of!), launches for its fifth holiday season on November 13. Fundraising ends at midnight, December 31.

The campaign raises funds for 37 selected nonprofits via SantaCruzGives.org where donors can browse individual pages to learn about each nonprofit’s mission and “Big Idea” project for 2020 that will be funded with donations, then use a shopping cart to easily give.

Projects cover the county geographically and represent a variety of needs: youth, seniors, animals, the environment, education, health and wellness, food and nutrition, housing and‑homelessness, arts, families, the disabled, and LBGTQ+. A seven-member committee with diverse nonprofit experience vetted the applications.

Selected nonprofits will receive donated funds, matching funds, and be eligible for three special awards: Most Donors Overall, Most Donors Under 35 years old, and Most Innovative Program. $1,000 will be awarded to each of three nonprofits in these categories.

For reporters viewing only Nov. 8-12: The website goes live on November 8 as a soft launch before the official launch date of November 13. Last year’s campaign is visible on the website, but will shut down for a few days prior to launch.

Santa Cruz Gives was founded by local weekly newspaper Good Times with the support of The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County. The program raised $234,571 in 2018 for 33 nonprofits.

“Santa Cruz Gives is the gold standard for giving in this community, in my opinion,” said Karen Delaney, executive director of the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County. “There is massive growth across every metric every year compared to the previous year: number of donors, donation amounts per donor, and challenge grant totals. In the past, only large national organizations had a tool like this at their disposal Santa Cruz Gives puts this tool into the hands of local people.”

New donors are the lifeblood of nonprofit organizations. Participants in Santa Cruz Gives reported that a majority of donors are new donors as well as younger donors.

Community Foundation Santa Cruz County joined as a major sponsor in 2018 and is on board in 2019. Other business sponsors are Santa Cruz County Bank, Wynn Capital Management, Oswald, and The Pajaronian.

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See the FAQ at SantaCruzGives.org for more info or contact Jeanne Howard at 831.601.1691 or SantaCruzGives@GoodTimes.SC