In 2012, when the Community Foundation of Sarasota County created the Giving Challenge, the area’s first comprehensive online giving day, the goals were modest.

The main objective was to promote The Giving Partner, the foundation’s then-new website showcasing local nonprofit organizations. The site was developed to allow nonprofits to share information about the impact they made in pursuing their missions, and in turn invite potential donors to research organizations working in fields that they care about. The thinking was that the Giving Challenge would build excitement around The Giving Partner, and the foundation hoped to raise maybe a little over $1 million for nonprofits that had registered through the site.

The generosity of local donors, combined with the energy and creativity of local nonprofits and matching dollars from The Patterson Foundation, blew those goals out of the water.

That first year, members of the community made a total of 10,700 donations worth nearly $2.4 million. And in the 14 years and eight challenges since, the Giving Challenge has become a singular date on the region’s philanthropic calendar, rallying tens of thousands of people to give to an ever-increasing number of nonprofits. The most recent Giving Challenge, in 2024, raised more than $17.2 million for 724 nonprofits through 90,000-plus gifts, bringing the total amount the challenge has raised since its inception to more than $92 million.

Expect that number to grow. This year’s challenge, which takes place from noon to noon, April 15 to 16, will involve a record number of nonprofits, more than 750, and, like it has in years past, The Patterson Foundation will match every donation from $25 to $100. The match acts as a force multiplier for nonprofits and donors alike, allowing anyone with $25 to spend to become a philanthropist.

“We hear from so many donors who say that the Giving Challenge is a fun way to start conversations about giving back with their families and friends,” says Jessica Muroff, the Community Foundation’s president and chief executive officer. “People will give their kids or grandkids $25 and let them research nonprofits on The Giving Partner and choose where they want their money to go. Giving people who may not think of themselves as philanthropists the ability to become a donor builds deeper connections among all of us and broadens people’s ideas about what it means to give.”

Beyond the money they raise, nonprofits benefit from participating in the challenge for years after the day itself. The process of engaging with the challenge encourages organizations to develop innovative marketing and outreach strategies, grow their online presence and woo new supporters. To help them accomplish that, the Community Foundation and its partners have offered a series of robust trainings on topics like how to best articulate their mission and how to foster relationships with donors long after the 24 hours of giving conclude.

Nonprofits are also building closer ties with one another by organizing what are called Pop-up Giving Stations. These events take place during the challenge and involve at least five nonprofits coming together in person to rally their supporters. Some nonprofits partner because they share a common mission (like caring for animals), while others organize with nonprofits near them to create a bigger neighborhood impact (as with one Pop-up Giving Station that will happen on Anna Maria Island). Those relationships won’t end when the challenge does—they will endure and grow in the coming months and years.

Modest beginnings, huge impact—that’s the story of the Giving Challenge, and it’s a story that is only just beginning.

The 10th Giving Challenge takes place from noon on Wednesday, April 15, to noon on Thursday, April 16. Visit givingchallenge.org to learn more.