Giving Challenge Prizes Award $225,000

May 27 – Sarasota

During a celebration with some 250 attendees, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, alongside other foundation partners, awarded more than 260 prizes totaling $225,000 to nonprofit organizations to recognize their efforts and achievements during the 2022 Giving Challenge. Nonprofit award recipients demonstrated excellence in transforming planning, strategy, and creativity into successful campaigns through several superlative prize opportunities, such as Best Overall Campaign, Best Nonprofit Partnership, and Best Turnaround. All prize opportunities are designed to strengthen the capacity of nonprofit organizations, ensuring they have the skills and abilities to thrive.  

“Nonprofit organizations plan for many months thoughtful fundraising plans, communications campaigns, and events to connect with donors and grow their involvement with causes close to their heart,” said Roxie Jerde, President and CEO of the Community Foundation. “We know it is important to celebrate the hard work given to building these strategies, which are lessons that will guide even stronger operations for the nonprofit sector that serves so many in our community.”  

Within 24 hours on April 26 and 27, donors across the community united with an outpouring of support for the 2022 Giving Challenge, raising $16,017,021 million for 669 participating nonprofit organizations in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. With nearly $9.9 million provided in community support and prizes from 46,283 donors and 83,074 total gifts, along with $6,149,105 million in matching funds from The Patterson Foundation, the 2022 Giving Challenge affirmed our community’s generosity with now having raised more than $75 million over the last decade through eight Giving Challenges. 

“The astounding total raised during the 2022 Giving Challenge is owed largely to the innovation and effort put forth by hundreds of regional nonprofits,” said Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation. “These prize winners, in particular, demonstrated inspired creativity and ingenuity that sparked thousands throughout our generous community into action while forging connections with both new and returning donors who can continue to strengthen their missions.”  

New prize opportunities this year included: Best Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaign and Best Video Commercial.   

Volunteer committees made up of community leaders reviewed and judged the more than 180 applications submitted by participating nonprofit organizations to determine the final award recipients. Nonprofits were divided into three categories: Small (annual operating budgets under $65,000), Medium (annual operating budgets between $65,000 and $600,000) and Large (annual operating budgets greater than $600,000).  

All prize opportunities were made available through the generosity of local foundation and media partners. The Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Board of Directors approved $200,000 to be awarded for this year’s prizes, with additional funding support from the Manatee Community Foundation, the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, and the Charlotte Community Foundation.  

For a full list of winners please visit cfsarasota.org