Getting your corporate giving going on Colorado Gives Day

What started in 2010 as a goal to get $1 million raised in one day has grown into a $26.2 million giving extravaganza. Today is Colorado Gives Day and a day for your business to show how it cares about the community.

Last year's Colorado Gives Day was very successful:

• Donations from 2013 to 2014 increased by 28 percent to a total of $26.2 million donated to 1,677 charities.
• Number of donors increased by 13.46 percent.
• Number of donations went from 20,119 in 2010 to 88,571 in 2013 to 108,547 in 2014.

Check out the graphs below for just how big Colorado Gives Day has become.

Last year we shared eight actions your business can take to show support for the charities in your community. One of the biggest corporate donors is First Bank who last year set up a $600,000 matching incentive fund. This means that for all the donations a charity received of the overall total donations that were made, the charity will receive that same percentage of funds from the First Bank matching incentive.

For you business, we encourage you today to share on your social media a link to your charity's donation page for your followers to click on. Include photographs and information about how your business has helped this year. Include this information on the front page of your website for the day and write a blog post if you have one. If your business has a physical shopping space for customers, please share on chalkboards, checkout areas and make announcements.

If possible, make your business' donation today to be a part of the program. Encourage other business partners or competitors to match your own donation.

Today is the day for your business to share its favorite charity's mission, inform how others can help, and tell how your business is helping. Corporate social responsibility  is a year-round activity, but today is one of those days your organization MUST be active.