Bonus Funds Will Match Portion of Giving From Donors, Making Dollars Go Further for Critical Nonprofits

MIAMI – November 16, 2020 – Now in its ninth year, Give Miami Day, the largest charitable giving event in South Florida, kicks off at 12 a.m. on Thursday, November 19, but the giving has already reached impressive levels.

The Miami Foundation announced that a highest-ever $1 million has been raised for Give Miami Day’s Bonus Pool by sponsors who are setting the tone for a record-breaking giving event. One of the biggest incentives for people to give to the annual event, which benefits nearly 900 Miami-Dade-based nonprofits, is that a portion of each donated dollar is matched by funds from the Bonus Pool.

“Our local nonprofits have faced immense hardship this year, navigating decreased fundraising revenues and exponentially increased need in the community,” said Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation. “Still, they’ve stepped up to care for our residents, and are leveraging the Early Giving period, promotional Power Hours spotlighting their causes and personalized Champion Pages for donors to make this the biggest Give Miami Day ever. Now, we need to step up for them.”

In an effort to help donors better-find organizations working on causes they care about, “Power Hours” will be introduced this year. Every hour from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., The Foundation will spotlight different issues on its digital media platforms, like racial and gender equity, education and youth, environment and urban resilience, and arts and culture.  These categories will make it easier for donors who want to support a specific cause to find and give to organizations doing the hard work to address it. Every dollar given to nonprofits during the Power Hours will be partially matched from the sponsor-funded Bonus Pool.

Also new this year, The Miami Foundation will allow donors to make gifts prior to Give Miami Day. Beginning Monday, November 16, donors can go to GiveMiamiDay.org, find organizations to support and make a gift. Early giving will run through 11:59 p.m. on November 18, providing plenty of extra time for residents to pour much-needed resources into critical organizations. These initiatives will encourage giving from new audiences, which is a central goal of the day this year: increase not only the dollars raised, but also the number of residents who make a gift.

Give Miami Day is always met with great enthusiasm, generating more than $14.4 million from more than 24,000 donors in 2019. The 24-hour day of giving is led by The Miami Foundation and made possible by its sponsors: Knight Foundation, The Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation, Related Philanthropic Foundation, William R. Watts Foundation, Mitchell Wolfson Sr. Foundation, SEI, Richard A. Berkowitz Philanthropic Fund, Berkowitz Pollack Brant, Provenance Wealth Advisors, AT&T, Stearns Weaver Miller, Ortega Foundation, Helena Rubenstein Philanthropic Fund, Miami HEAT and Anonymous.

Pictured: Nora Sandigo Children Foundation, a 2020 Give Miami Day organization