News from the Noteworthy by Community Foundation of Otsego County

Foundations Announce One-Day Fundraiser for NFPs

In November of 2022, the Community Foundation of Otsego County—with the assistance of SUNY-Oneonta—brought together 50 Otsego County nonprofits for an extended breakfast discussion on what CFOC could best do to help Otsego nonprofits.

The talks brought out the need for more collaboration and communication among all nonprofits, as well as with CFOC. Importantly—and unsurprisingly—improved fundraising was one of the leading topics.

A new idea grew from that breakfast: an Otsego County community-wide day of giving, built with the help of, and around, an extremely successful 2022 program created by the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties. Their program is called “Mohawk Valley Gives,” and in 2022 it raised $630,000.00 in online donations in just one day for Herkimer and Oneida nonprofits. On that single day, 1,700 donors donated to 137 organizations.

For 2023, CFOC will work with the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties to expand “Mohawk Valley Gives” to Otsego County nonprofits. The event is scheduled in September of this year and operates through the “Mohawk Valley Gives” website.

The website will have a dedicated directory of participating Otsego County nonprofits in addition to individual pages for each participating nonprofit. Otsego County is, in effect, piggybacking on this year’s Herkimer and Oneida fundraiser. It is completely free to take part in the “Mohawk Valley Gives” event and all funds raised will go directly to the Otsego nonprofits who participate.

To lay out the proposed plan, CFOC will hold an informational Spring Nonprofit Breakfast on May 22 from 8:30-11 a.m., at the Otsego Grille in SUNY-Oneonta’s Morris Hall. All Otsego County nonprofits and CFOC donors are invited to attend. There is no cost for the breakfast, nor any obligation to participate in the September event.

Representatives from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties will be at the breakfast to explain how “Mohawk Valley Gives” works, how the registration process operates, how the dedicated website works, and what to expect after registration. The date for the one-day fundraising event will be Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

The Community Foundation of Otsego County is happy to offer Otsego County the opportunity to put this fundraising tool to work. We are also offering to provide organizational assistance to individual nonprofits who want to participate in the September 20 event.

Please RSVP to contact@cfotsego.org for the May 22 informational Spring Nonprofit Breakfast.

Established in 2019, the Community Foundation of Otsego County works to create and support healthy, prosperous, and enriching opportunities for all citizens of Otsego County. Visit us at cfotsego.org or facebook.com/CFOtsego.

Jeff Katz is the executive director of the Community Foundation of Otsego County.