Vol. 1 - No. 3 - March/Spring 2021 Issue |
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BREAKING NEWS:
Give Big Kern is Coming May 4! But GiveBigKern.org will go LIVE a month before that, as is our tradition, so that donors can start giving as early as April 4!
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Are Kern County Nonprofits Ready to Fundraise B-I-I-I-G?
In less than two weeks, on Sunday, April 4, anyone wanting to support Kern County's hard-working nonprofits will be able to donate to any one of 130 participating agencies through GiveBigKern.org! The website will go live that day to receive donations and volunteer pledges during a monthlong period of giving that will culminate in a philanthropic frenzy on Give Big Kern Day May 4!
Readiness Through Trainings
To help local charities prepare for Give Big Kern 2021, host Kern Community Foundation, in partnership with giving day technology partner GiveGab, delivered a series of trainings between mid-January and mid-March on different aspects of the giving day. Recordings and slides of these trainings are easily accessible to all participants on the Trainings page of the Give Big Kern website.
NEW OPTIONAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITY: Also accessible is an upcoming webinar from GiveGab called "Maximizing Impact Through Matches and Challenges During Your Giving Day," which will be held at 11 a.m. March 31.
Click here or on the image below to go straight to the Trainings page to sign up for the March 31 webinar or access any of our recorded training options.
IMPORTANT: Participating nonprofits need to be sure to fulfill training requirements in order to be eligible for Give Big Kern competitive or opportunity drawing prizes. Training requirements can be met by either having attended or watched the recordings of the following trainings:
- Both GiveGab Trainings of Jan. 14 & March 2
- A minimum of two of the four trainings hosted by Kern Community Foundation on Feb. 3 & March 11.
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Readiness Through Marketing Support |
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We have lots of FREE downloadable graphics like the mini-poster above in the Nonprofit Toolkit page of the Give Big Kern website to help participating nonprofits publicize their Give Big Kern campaign B-I-I-I-G! (Besides the graphics, there are also lots of other marketing campaign planning, communications, fundraising, and donor/board member engagement tools available in the Nonprofit Toolkit.)
Nonprofits and their fundraising champions are free to download and use these graphics in any social media, e-mail marketing, video and other electronic campaigns, and also for any materials you plan to print. We encourage co-branding your campaign by placing the Give Big Kern logo and your agency's logo side by side--just don't alter the Give Big Kern logo, please.
Simply click on the toolkit image below to access the Nonprofit Toolkit page and scroll down to the bottom of the page to access our entire assortment of Graphics & Downloads.
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Readiness Through Events & Promotions
The Events Page of the Give Big Kern website will also help everyone keep track of special events and promotions supporting our campaign. Now and through May 4, there is lip-smacking philanthropic deliciousness to be found there thanks to our promotional sponsor Cornerstone Bakery's sale of Give Big Kern Cupcakes, with a part of the proceeds from sales benefiting the Give Big Kern cause. Click on the scrumptious image below to check out details and "Support B-I-I-I-G! by Eating B-I-I-I-G!"
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And for anyone who is feeling "Foxy," Kern Community Foundation has rented the marquee at The Historic Fox Theater, on the corner of 20th and H Streets in Downtown Bakersfield, for April 4 (Easter Sunday), the day Give Big Kern giving season kicks off this year, and May 4, Give Big Kern Day!
All day long on both of those days, many drivers and passersby will see the message to "GIVE TO LOCAL CAUSES THRU GIVEBIGKERN.ORG"
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We invite participating nonprofits, their donors and supporters, to swing by the Fox Theater on either of those days and take a picture or Facebook Live video under the marquee and post it on social media to encourage others to "Give B-I-I-I-G!" At night on those days, the sign will be lit up in all its neon glory for truly dramatic photos.
Please observe social distancing and other COVID-safety protocols in this and any other Give Big Kern activities in which you participate.
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Readiness Through a Local Media Blitz
Beginning in early April, Kern County consumers of print, broadcast and online news will start to see Give Big Kern in the headlines thanks to important in-kind sponsorships Kern Community Foundation has received from our generous local media partners.
They have also submitted one-minute fundraising appeal videos for broadcast on KGET and Telemundo Valle Central, which will also broadcast a Give Big Kern PSA for two whole weeks leading up to Give Big Kern Day.
When you see or hear a story featuring one of our participating nonprofits on the website of any of the news outlets above, be sure to share the link on your social media pages and use the hashtag #GiveBigKern to create, as #BillytheGiveBigGoat likes to say, "A social media b-u-u-u-z-z-z!"
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Finally, Readiness Through Hopeful Data
One year after the prolonged COVID-19 crisis began, our peers in online fundraising are delivering encouraging news to us here at Give Big Kern!
Charlie Mulligan, the CEO of our technology partner, GiveGab, recently shared with us that, "In 2020, repeat Giving Days on GiveGab saw on average a 97% increase in dollars raised year over year through your efforts!" (Give Big Kern, by the way, saw a 72% increase in dollars raised in 2020 over 2019!)
Considering the above, and also the fact that Candid, yet another peer in the online fundraising arena, tells us that 68% of gifts to charity are made by individuals, we can feel hopeful that if we trust the data, and most of all the GIVING SPIRIT OF THE GENEROUS PEOPLE OF KERN COUNTY, we can look forward to another successful Give Big Kern to the benefit of our hard-working nonprofits.
Give B-I-I-I-G!
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Coming up in our June/Summer 2021 Issue:
Our 2021 Give Big Kern Report to the Community analyzing this year's results after the Giving Day has been put to bed. We wish everyone the best of luck in fundraising! For reference, here is a link to 2020's Give Big Kern Report to the Community.
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Billy's Give B-i-i-i-g! Gazette
Editor in C-h-i-i-i-e-e-f: Billy the Give Big Goat, Give Big Kern Mascot
Writer/Sidekick: Louis (Lou) Medina, Director of Community Impact
Newsletter Nameplate Design: Raul Gallardo Design Services (In-Kind Sponsor)
We welcome ideas for future articles related to any aspect of online fundraising.
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