r By Jennifer Durrant
Circles Utah Valley is now competing in A Community Thrives, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, a fundraising program on CrowdRise by GoFundMe, the most trusted social fundraising platform. A Community Thrives is a nationwide program that is focused on helping organizations by shining a national spotlight on their community-building initiatives. Circles has the opportunity to be awarded up to $1 million in available project-based grants to help fund their initiative to help struggling individuals and families achieve financial stability.
Circles is founded on the idea that success is influenced by the people and resources that surround us. It’s not money that changes people — it’s relationships and information. Circles empowers families and individuals with the relationships, confidence, skills and knowledge they need to be self-reliant. The program provides intentional friends and mentors, classes and personalized coaching.
“We are thrilled to be participating in A Community Thrives,” said Kathy Givens, Circles Utah Valley Coordinator. “As we raise money through this platform, we will be able to help so many more individuals and families become self-reliant. At Circles, we’re not about quick-fixes; our goal is long-term stability. We can make even a small donation go a long way towards achieving that goal.”
A Community Thrives launched on CrowdRise by GoFundMe on Monday, March 18, and will continue through Friday, April 12. The organizations in tier 1 and tier 2 that raise the most during the program will each be awarded a $25,000 grant, second place organizations will each be awarded a $15,000 grant and third place organizations will each be awarded a $10,000 grant. Weekly bonus challenges enable organizations to be awarded up to $50,000 in grants in each Tier. At the end of the crowdfunding period, an additional 16 grants totaling $800,000 will be awarded to participating organizations. Plus, qualifying organizations that provide services in USA TODAY NETWORK’s 109 newspaper markets may be eligible to receive an additional operating grant from a $1,300,000 fund. For more information on qualifying organizations, visit the official rules here.
CrowdRise administers innovative fundraising competitions for charitable organizations designed to build capacity, create massive engagement and use the power of the crowd to provide new meaningful funding streams for organizations in every sector.
To help Circles Utah Valley be awarded A Community Thrives grant, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/community-action-services-and-food-bank-utah/community-action-services-and-food-bank-inc.
About Circles Utah ValleyrCircles is a community-based initiative focused on helping struggling individuals and families achieve financial stability. Success in any endeavor is influenced by the people and resources that surround us. Money doesn’t change human capacity—relationships and information do.
Circles isn’t about quick fixes or handouts. Instead, Circles equips families and individuals with the relationships, confidence, skills, and knowledge required to be self-reliant. Circles is a long-term program that assists families and individuals in reaching stability. As part of Circles USA, Circles opened a chapter in Utah Valley in 2011. Circles partner with community resources and volunteers to help the more vulnerable among us to become strong and resilient members of our society. In so doing, we all become stronger.
