Colorado Gives Day to benefit nonprofits today

Today is Colorado Gives Day, an annual initiative to celebrate and promote philanthropy through online giving.

Donors may choose their favorite nonprofits and set up their Colorado Gives Day gifts through its official website, ColoradoGives.org, a year-round, online-giving website featuring more than 1,500 charities.

Community First Foundation and FirstBank have partnered to present Colorado Gives Day since 2010. Colorado Gives Day unites Coloradans in a common goal to strengthen the state’s nonprofits and educate communities on the benefits of online giving by making fundraising simple for nonprofits and easy for donors.

Colorado Gives Day is one of the most successful events of its kind in the nation. Now in its fifth year, the initiative has distributed $58.1 million to Colorado nonprofits ($8.7 million in 2010, $12.8 million in 2011, $15.7 million in 2012 and $20.9 million in 2013).

For the first time, Colorado Gives Day features a $1 Million Incentive Fund, one of the largest gives-day incentive funds in the country. The fund was created by Community First Foundation and FirstBank to motivate donors to give today. Every nonprofit receiving a donation on Colorado Gives Day receives a portion of the incentive fund, which increases the value of every dollar donated. For example, if a nonprofit organization receives 10 percent of the total donations made on Colorado Gives Day, that same nonprofit receives 10 percent of the $1 Million Incentive Fund.

Roaring Fork Valley-area nonprofits participating in Colorado Gives Day include the Aspen Historical Society, Challenge Aspen, Aspen Youth Center, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Aspen Valley Land Trust, Mind Springs Health, Response, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers and more. To see a full list of participating nonprofits in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, visit http://www.coloradogives.org.