Tag Archives: giveBIG

Business, News

Seattle Values Start with Books and Condoms

Some Seattleites killing time at the library before the 5th Ave show

Books, condoms, musicals, and retraining the homeless. There are a lot of ways to explore the psyche of a city, but surely one of the most credible is simply noting where its money goes. There, the Seattle Foundation’s recent GiveBIG campaign offers plenty of insight. 3.6-million-dollars’ worth.

They’ve produced two lists, one with top non-profit organizations by number of donors, and one with top organizations by total given. At the top of both lists are the Seattle Public Library Foundation and Planned Parenthood. The 5th Avenue Theatre is right up there, too, and so is FareStart.

At mid-list is the sustainability-focused Bainbridge Graduate Institute.

So there you have it: Seattle believes in sharing information, having protected sex, weeping to Sondheim, studying sustainability, and unleashing the Tom Douglas inside people on the street. These are our core values. That’s what got us to #5 on Richard Florida’s Creative Cities list.

If it’s also clear evidence why the rest of Washington State has trouble “getting” what Seattle is about, I think we can be proud of a such a distinct personality. It’s why people from New York tumble head over heels for Seattle. Who knew, way out here on the frontier?

Business, News

The GiveBIG Experiment Goes Live–But Will It Go Really Big?

If you have ever given your email to an arts organization or other non-profit, ever decided to follow them on Twitter or fan them on Facebook, you already know the Seattle Foundation has arranged the “biggest day of charitable giving in King County history” with its GiveBIG campaign today.

From 7 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., the Foundation will be accepting credit card donations to any of the nearly 1,000 non-profits that are registered with them. Then, a $500,000 “stretch pool,” courtesy of the Seattle Foundation and GiveBIG supporters (see below for full list), will match today’s donations on a pro-rated basis.

No computer? No worries. The Seattle Public Library’s Central Branch is creating a GiveBIG Donation Center on the third floor, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., where you can make online donations.

Former Seattle mayor Norm Rice, the foundation’s president and CEO, captures the good intentions behind the effort: “GiveBIG provides an opportunity to see how much good we can do as a community, working together.” Updates will be announced throughout the day on the Seattle Foundation’s Facebook page.

The Seattle Foundation has already had to add server capacity this morning, passing the $500,000 mark by 10 a.m. [UPDATE: $1 million by 10:16 a.m.!] Of course, the downside is that the campaign may work too well: If you have ever given to more than one non-profit, it’s likely that you’re hearing from all of them today, possibly repeatedly.

Tweeted fattailed: “I’m about one more request to #GiveBIG away from #GivingtheFINGER to the Seattle Foundation for this promotion and capitalization. #annoying.”

And Daniknows asked, “I think #GiveBIG was well-intentioned, but I have to wonder how effective it’s going to be if donors feel spammed,” adding, “Since yesterday, I have a minimum of a dozen #GiveBIG pleas from a variety of Seattle non-profits I’ve supported in some fashion….”

Keeping the fun in philfunthropy, there will be a GiveBIG Happy Hour for The Arts, sponsored by Shunpike, at Capitol Hill’s Vermillion Gallery (1508 11th Avenue) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. tonight.

Also “Golden Tickets” will award an extra $1,000 to organizations, hourly, drawing from the pool of today’s donors’ names. A Golden Ticket drawing worth $5,000 is scheduled for tonight’s Sounder’s match against the Red Bulls. Fair warning: At halftime, volunteers at the CLink will rove the stands on behalf of Sounders’ charity partners: America SCORES Seattle, Boys and Girls Clubs, Special Olympics Washington, Washington Global Health Alliance and Washington Youth Soccer.

*”The $500,000 stretch pool includes $250,000 from The Seattle Foundation and generous support from presenting partners JPMorgan Chase, Seattle International Foundation and Seattle Sounders FC. Significant donations were also made by lead sponsors Microsoft, Boeing and Puget Sound Energy; supporters Tom and Sonya Campion, Davis Wright Tremaine, Lease Crutcher Lewis, Safeco Insurance, John Stanton and Theresa Gillepsie, Swedish Medical Center, Bob and Juanita Watt and Wells Fargo; and friends Clark Nuber P.S., Colonial Consulting, Daniels Real Estate, Deloitte, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, K&L Gates, Norman and Constance Rice, and Virginia Mason Medical Center. Media sponsorship is provided by The Seattle Times Company, KING 5 Television, and 97.3 KIRO FM, 710 ESPN Seattle, 770 KTTH and MyNorthwest.com.”