Get excited for some #FundraisingMadness, Network!
By: Kelsey Gurganus, director of research and evaluation, DVN
March Madness has always been my favorite time of year. As a former college basketball player, I love the excitement, entertainment, and nostalgia of this hoops event. Much of what basketball instilled in me for years has contributed to my passion to help others and make a difference in my community, as well as fueled my desire to professionally work for causes that are bigger than me.
Thanks to Brackets for Good (BFG), March has now become bigger than basketball. BFG is an Indianapolis based 501(c)3 charitable organization focused on activating new donors and increasing awareness for other nonprofit organizations through competitive, online fundraising. BFG hosts single-elimination, bracket-style fundraising tournaments that raise funds and attract new donors for nonprofits of all sizes. If you love basketball and supporting local nonprofit causes, its a WIN-WIN! There are so many parallels between sports and the nonprofit world. Without strategy, teamwork, collaboration, passion, planning, research, data, hard work, commitment, and accountability, success can be incredibly limited. All reasons why I could not be more excited that DVN was among the 64 local charities selected for the BFG Challenge in Indianapolis!
The competition is pretty simple. In order for DVN to move on in the tournament, we must score more points than our opponent each round. Each round lasts one week. A donation of $1 equals one point scored. DVN retains all the donations.
Below is a simple breakdown of how each donation to DVN counts:
- $1 – covers take-home resources about dating abuse for two students
- $5 – covers three healthy relationship education classes for one student
- $50 – provides 100 teens with take-home resources about dating abuse
- $100 – covers three healthy relationship education classes for 25 students
- $250 – educates a school’s entire faculty about teen dating violence response techniques
- $500 – covers one Teen Dating Abuse simulation for youth and youth educators
- $1,000 – sponsors a student-led NO MORE club for one semester
Round one ends Friday, March 9. The overall tournament champion in Indianapolis receives a $10,000 grand prize! So, this is where we need your help, Network. Please go to the link below to donate, check out how we are doing in Round 1, and share our matchup information with your network:
https://indianapolis.bfg.org/matchup/domestic-violence-network?blm_aid=31159
Thank you, Network! Keep grinding.
#YouAreTheNetwork
Kelsey Gurganus, Director of Research and Evaluation