Sponsored by: JoAnn Wine & Associates

Written by Audrey Sochor

   More than 60 nonprofits leaders from across the county came together on March 21 to prepare for The Big Give, a 24-hour online giving rally happening June 12.

   The first of two training dates, the goal is the teach not just the organization’s executive director, but its board members, volunteers and others who will rally around their favorite cause how to effectively leverage the awareness created by an event like The Big Give. 

   Erika Collins, a board member of A Beautiful Me, said this event is important for them because it will help the group reach other young girls. A Beautiful Me’s mission is to empower girls and women of all ages by building self-esteem.

   “The negative things that are being said and put on different people are not true,” Collins said. “You are worth it. You are beautiful. You’re everything that you want to be. So I think The Big Give is something that will help to increase the organization. It will help increase the reach for us to reach more communities, and just continue to empower and build young girls and women of all kinds.”

   Building those relationships is something Jackie Hanton, vice president of the Community Foundation, wanted to emphasize during the training. Not only helping nonprofit employees connect with the people who use their services but by getting nonprofits to rally around each other, as well as how to best communicate their message and the work they do to new and current donors.   

   Hanton also wants nonprofit leaders to be armed and ready with the tools they need to make the most out of The Big Give, which Tyrone Burrell, executive director of SONS, thinks the training did. It built upon his social media skills and taught him the nuances of how to run an effective campaign. 

   “As we move forward we’re looking at a building, a home,” Burrell said. “We’re looking at more staffing, so being more effective in being able to reach people, share our message – the impact we’re having in our community and that we’d like to continue to have – this is all part of what this is all about.”     

   To learn more about The Big Give, visit www.StClairFoundation.org. And don’t forget to help the participating nonprofits by spreading the word about The Big Give.