Connect to a Cause 2020

THANK YOU!

Our community raised $147K plus a $40K match for a total of $187K  on September 17, 2020 for Lorain County non-profit organizations through Connect to a Cause1,056 individuals donated money to the 56 organizations that participated in Connect to a Cause, a 12-hour, coordinated crowdfunding campaign.

The RESULTS are in!

The amounts listed include the amount raised for each organization plus the prorated matching dollars.

** Highest amount raised/***Most individual donors

100 Women Who Care About Lorain County  $5,128.86
A Dementia Friendly Life  $918.64
Avon Lake City Schools Foundation  $3,013.07
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lorain County  $748.74
Blessing House  $10,752.68
BOFE Lupus Foundation  $435.34
Boy Scouts of America, Lake Erie Council  $265.58
Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio  $2,907.92
City Fresh  $5,323.35
Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center  $204.84
Coalition for Hispanic Issues and Progress (C.H.I.P.)  $69.13
Common Ground-The Cindy Nord Center for Renewal  $1,561.25
Community Congregational United Church of Christ  $1,436.46
Echoing Hills  $3,094.40
Effective Leadership Academy  $236.71
El Centro de Servicios Sociales  $4,676.78
Elyria Arts Council  $412.09
Firelands Association for the Visual Arts  $1,829.87
Foundation of the Lorain Public Library System, Inc.  $1,912.72
French Creek YMCA  $1,410.31
Friendship Animal Protective League  $3,189.11
Girl Scouts of North East Ohio  $ 848.09
Grafton-Midview Public Library  $3,250.67
Leadership Lorain County  $6,116.41
Legal Aid Society of Cleveland  $438.79
Lorain County Community College Foundation**  $ 25,502.72
Lorain County Free Clinic, Inc.  $4,560.18
Lorain County Habitat for Humanity  $733.68
Lorain County Historical Society  $4,683.61
Lorain County Imagination Library  $2,229.37
Lorain County Joint Vocational School  $184.76
Lorain County Metro Parks  $ 13,611.19
Lorain County Urban League  $6,661.92
Lorain Historical Society  $1,157.69
Lucy Idol Center, Inc.  $253.29
Main Street Amherst ***  $ 13,773.50
Main Street Vermilion  $1,912.04
Main Street Wellington, Inc.  $5,819.72
Mighty Goliath Productions  $3,002.50
Neighborhood Alliance  $8,637.06
Nord Center  $4,195.33
Oberlin Business Partnership  $2,181.97
Oberlin Choristers  $315.74
Oberlin Community Services Council  $8,069.27
Partners with Paws of Lorain County, Inc.  $721.43
Salvation Army of Lorain County  $1,189.67
Save Our Children, Inc.  $2,071.00
Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio  $6,048.88
Southern Lorain County Historical Society  $1,750.85
Teen Leadership Corps  $756.32
The LCADA Way  $998.22
The Mary Lee Tucker Fund, Inc.  $1,141.64
United Way of Greater Lorain County  $2,076.25
Voices for Children  $477.40
We Care We Share  $525.37
YWCA Elyria  $1,910.30

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to the Lorain County Community College Foundation for raising over $15K in just 12-hours!

Congratulations to the Main Street Amherst for having 202 individual donors donate in just 12-hours!

 

Top 5 Money Raised

Lorain County Community College Foundation $15,530.00 
Lorain County Metro Parks  $11,975.00 
Blessing House  $9,390.00 
Neighborhood Alliance $7,575.00 
Oberlin Community Services Council $7,040.00 

Top 5 Donors

Main Street Amherst                     202 individuals
Lorain County Urban League                       98 individuals
Lorain County Metro Parks                        90 individuals
Blessing House                        80 individuals
Mighty Goliath Productions                       61 individuals

FAQs for Donors

Connect to a Cause is a 12-hour period of fundraising that enables community members to donate directly to the local charities of their choice. This type of fundraising event is sometimes known as crowdfunding.

The event takes place on Thursday, September 17 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. EST. Throughout the 12 hour period, we will post how much the organizations are raising on the Community Foundation’s website and social media platforms.

Participating organizations are featured in our online “catalog” that donors can “shop” to select those they want to support. Once inside the “catalog,” simply click the blue button to the right of the organization’s name you wish to support. If you would like to support more than one organization, just click the  “Continue Giving” button when in the cart to return to the grants catalog. Select the next organization and “add to cart.” Once you have selected all of the organizations you wish to support, click “Checkout.”

You can begin donating by visiting our grants catalog on Thursday, September 17 at 8:00 AM.

Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express are accepted. We have implemented an option for donors to cover a portion of the credit card fee at a flat rate of 3%.  Any credit card fees not covered by the donor will be deducted from their donation. The Community Foundation of Lorain County does not receive any fees. Sorry, credit card gift cards will not be accepted.

If you prefer to donate by check, please complete this form and include it with your check. Checks should be made payable to the Community Foundation and they can be mailed or delivered to the Foundation office at 9080 Leavitt Road, Elyria OH 44035. Checks must be postmarked by Thursday, September 17 or delivered in-person to the Foundation office by 8:00 PM on September 17.

The minimum donation is $5. There is no limit to the amount of money you may give. There is no limit to the number of organizations you can donate to in one transaction.

Your donation will be passed directly onto the organization(s) you select to use in the best way they see fit.  These funds could be used to support general operating costs, a special project, or donated into the organization’s endowment fund.  How the funds are used will be completely left up to the discretion of the organization(s).

To participate in Connect to a Cause,  organizations must serve Lorain County and be a registered 501(c)(3). Non-profits had until May 2020 to register for Connect to a Cause.

The event, which recognizes the Community Foundation of Lorain County’s 40th anniversary, features a bonus: Community Foundation Board of Directors committed an additional $40K to be distributed among the participating organizations based on the amount raised.

  • $10K to the organization that raises the most money during the twelve-hour period.
  • $10K to the organization with the highest number of individual donors during that time.
  • $20K to the remaining participating agencies based on a prorated share of overall donations received.

To figure the pro rata share of the donations, we will take the total match dollar amount and divide it by the gross donation total received for all participants which gives us the percentage of the match that each donated dollar receives.  For example, the total match amount is $20,000 and is the total amount raised is $500,000, then the prorated match percentage will be 4%.

If you would like to help increase the size of the bonus dollars, please call 440.984.7390.

If your employer has a matching gifts program, please complete your employer’s necessary paperwork and include it with your check and this check donation form.  Your personal check, check donation form and employer match paperwork must be received by the Community Foundation office prior 8:00pm September 17.

The Community Foundation is unable to complete the employee match paperwork for you.

Please be aware that all matching gifts must be made payable to the Community Foundation of Lorain County. The Foundation then does a pass-through gift to the organization of the donor’s choice.

Preliminary results are posted instantaneously. As soon as a credit card donation is made,  you will see the non-profit’s “funded” amount increase in the grant catalog. Check donations will be added to the total several times throughout the day. The final numbers will be posted on the Community Foundation website at peoplewhocare.org by September 24.

Your name and address will be shared only with the organizations you donate to.  If you prefer this information not be shared, please select the “remain anonymous” option when on the checkout page or on your check donation form.

We will maintain contact information in order to invite all participants to the annual meeting, and to send our annual report and newsletters.

All donors will receive a gift acknowledgement email from the Community Foundation for their tax-deductible gift and each organization is encouraged to send their own personal thank you note to their donors.

In order to complete an online donation, all donors must use an email address.  If you do not have an email, please use thankyou@peoplewhocare.org.  A receipt will be mailed to you following Connect to a Cause.  This may take a few weeks.

An email address is not required for donations made by check or cash. These types of donations must be received by the Foundation office by 8:00 PM on Thursday, September 17.  Please include this form with your donation.  It can be mailed or delivered to: Community Foundation of Lorain County, 9080 Leavitt Road, Elyria 44035

If you would like your Connect to a Cause donation to be in honor or memory of a loved one and you would like to donate online, please complete the Memorial section in the online form.  If you wish to contribute by check, please write any memorial information on the back of your check donation form.  Families of your loved one will be notified by the Community Foundation of your donation.


FAQs for Participating Organizations

Lorain County non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations who registered prior to May 2020.

There is no fee associated with participating in Connect to a Cause.  However, any donation made via credit card will incur processing fees of 2.9% plus $0.30.  We have implemented an option for donors to cover a portion of the credit card fee at a flat rate of 3%.

  • Credit cards, checks, and cash are all acceptable forms of payment.  
  • Checks must be postmarked by Thursday, September 17 or delivered in-person to the Foundation office by 8:00 PM on September 17. Donors should include this form if they wish to donate by check.
  • While recurring donations are encouraged, only donations received on the Connect to a Cause day count towards the total. 

There is no limit to the amount of money a non-profit can raise during Connect to a Cause. The number of donors is also not limited.

The event, which recognizes the Community Foundation of Lorain County’s 40th anniversary, features a bonus: Community Foundation Board of Directors committed an additional $40K to be distributed among the participating organizations based on the amount raised.

  • $10K to the organization who raises the most money during the twelve-hour period.
  • $10K to the organization with the highest number of individual donors during that time.
  • $20K to the remaining participating agencies based on a pro rata share of overall donations received.

To figure the pro rata share of the donations, we will take the total match dollar amount and divide it by the gross donation total received for all participants which gives us the percentage of the match that each donated dollar receives.  For example, the total match amount is $20,000 and if the total amount raised is $500,000, then the prorated match percentage will be 4%.

Credit card fees of 2.9% plus $0.30 incurred for each credit card donation will be netted against the match dollar amount. We have implemented an option for donors to cover a portion of the credit card fee at a flat rate of 3% which will be added to the gross gift amount.

Example #1:
Donor chooses not to cover credit card fees
Gift Amount: $100.00
Match Amount: (Add) $4.00
Credit Card Fee: (Subtract) $3.20
Net Amount to Organization: $100.80

Example #2:
Donor chooses to cover a portion of the credit card fees of 3%
Gift Amount: $100.00
Match Amount: (Add) $4.00
Credit Card Fee covered by donor: (Add) $3.09
Credit Card Fee: (Subtract) $3.29
Net amount to the organization: $103.80

A preliminary donation total will be announced after 8:00 PM on Thursday, September 17.   The results of the two $10K donations and the amounts of the pro-rated match will be announced by September 24. We will notify all participating non-profits when this list is available. Checks will be available to organizations around October 1. More details about how and where you will receive your check will be shared at a later date.

The Community Foundation will acknowledge all contributions with a tax receipt. An automatic confirmation email will go out to all donors who donate via credit card at peoplewhocare.org.

Unless a donor wishes to remain anonymous, donor names and addresses will be shared only with the organizations they supported following Connect to a Cause.  This will allowing your organization the opportunity to acknowledge the gifts you have received.

  • Our Connect to a Cause toolkit was emailed to all participating organizations and includes various digital marketing pieces and other tools. Share this information with supporters, donors, volunteers, employees, Board Members … basically everyone! Find unique ways to share your message. Start sharing this message and educating donors now!
  • Marketing Webinar: Telling Your Story was held on August 13, 2020, for any non-profit participating in Connect to a Cause. A recording of the webinar can be found here.
  • Two informational webinars will be held for participating organizations on Tuesday, September 1 and Thursday, September 3 at 11:00 AM. A representative from your organization should plan to attend one of the sessions. If you do not receive Zoom login instructions, please contact Brittany at the number listed below.
  • If you have questions or additional suggestions, please contact Brittany Lovett, Marketing & Communications Officer at Community Foundation of Lorain County blovett@peoplewhocare.org or 440.984.7390 

Visit the grants catalog at peoplewhocare.org. As soon as a credit card donation is made,  you will see your organization’s “funded” amount increase in the grant catalog. Check donations will be added to the total several times throughout the day. The final numbers will be posted on the Community Foundation website at peoplewhocare.org by September 24.

Please contact Missy Timko, Data Management Fellow, at mtimko@peoplewhocare.org or by phone at 440.984.7390.

For marketing or general event questions:

Brittany Lovett, Marketing and Communications Officer
blovett@peoplewhocare.org
440.984.7390

For technical questions regarding the grant catalog:

Missy Timko, Data Management Fellow
mtimko@peoplewhocare.org
440.984.7390

For questions regarding donations or the $40K bonus/prorated match:

Jim Stobe, CFO
jstobe@peoplewhocare.org
440.984.7390

 

Additional FAQ questions added and updated 9/10/2020.