Give Local events raise thousands of dollars for nonprofits in Southwest Virginia

To help out, you can go online and scroll through more than 100 different organizations

Give Local Alleghany Highlands is officially underway!

The 24-hour fundraising event uses social media to help local nonprofits raise funds and continue to support the community.

This is the second year that Alleghany Highlands is hosting this fundraiser. Last year, the event was extremely successful and organizers hope to have the same success this year.

Every organization has the chance to win big with $35,000 in prizes. Each donation that is made helps nonprofits have a greater chance of winning those prizes.

Early giving started on May 24 and all donations made will go toward the overall fundraising prizes for Give Local.

“We’ve got quite a few different types of prizes being offered during the event because we really wanted to design the prizes in a way that every organization that is participating can get a little bit of money out of the event, at least from us and also to make it that so it is really engaging for the donors,” said Daniel Grizzard, the Program Coordinator for Give Local Alleghany Highlands.

An example of one of the ways nonprofits can win extra prizes is through a computer system. It will randomly select a donation every hour and boost it with an additional $200.

There are 35 organizations participating in the fundraiser. Daniel said this is not only a great fundraising opportunity but a great chance for the public to learn about all the nonprofits available and the work that they do in the community.

A similar fundraiser is happening in the New River Valley in just a couple of weeks. On June 22, you can take part in a full day of giving.

To help out, you can go online and scroll through more than 100 different organizations in the NRV that can use your support. Some of those nonprofits include Mountain View Humane, Agape Center, Feeding Southwest Virginia and the Community Group.

“We have organizations small and large participating, but I would say something that they all could use is just more capacity with more people power and not every budget can accommodate that,” said Lindsey Gleason, the Assistant Director for the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. “So, I think something like this is a great way to raise more money, which is also really needed.”

Last year, more than $519,000 was raised as part of Give Local NRV.