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With the holiday season settling in Longmont, the season of giving is a time for nonprofits to shore up end-of-year fundraising.
Colorado Gives Day is December 7, a time when many organizations receive their largest donations in a single push, according to Longmont Community Foundation Executive Director Eric Hozempa. Nonprofits that may have fallen short of yearly fundraising goals hope to close that gap, Hozempa explained, or get an early boost for the start of a new year.
“I like to stress that the need never goes away. We’re big fans of the efforts that encourage people to give generously to nonprofit organizations,” Hozempa said.
Donations to nonprofits through Colorado Gives Day totaled more than $50 million in 2020, according to the Community First Foundation. The donations set records during a year when the pandemic caused organizations to cancel typical fundraising events or move them to a digital setting.
“Last year was an amazing year, fraught with difficulty obviously, but full of opportunity. I think people looked around their communities and said ‘Hey, can I help?’ and I suspect we’ll see another outpouring of support this year,” Hozempa said.
Scott Cook, CEO of the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce, that local nonprofits make up almost 10% of the Longmont Chamber of Commerece’s member directory. The list wasn’t exhaustive, Cook said, and changes as nonprofits choose to renew their membership or not.
Cook emphasized the increase of services and higher cost of meeting community needs that many of these nonprofit organizations face, particularly since the pandemic.
“The services are only going to be more in demand, so it’s important to keep these organizations in the front of our minds when we’re thinking of giving,” Cook said. “They’re still doing the work but it’s becoming more costly for them even as the demand has gone up.”
Including religious organizations, there are dozens upon dozens of nonprofits and philanthropic organizations in Longmont with a variety of scopes and goals. From food insecurity and housing issues, human services, social justice, environmental advocacy and local arts, it can be tough to make a choice.
“It can be difficult to make a decision, but we should also remember that’s a good thing about our community too,” Cook said. “There’s a lot of organizations doing a lot of good work in the area.”
Longmont Nonprofit Organizations (alphabetical)
Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center
Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center
Friends of the Longmont Library
Friends of the Longmont Museum
Friends of the Longmont Senior Center
Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley
Longmont Community Justice Partnership
Longmont Friends of Feral & Abandoned Cats
Longmont Performing Arts Initiative
Longmont Sister Cities Association
Longmont United Hospital Foundation
Mountain States Children’s Home
Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley
St. Vrain Community Montessori
St. Vrain Valley Schools Education Foundation
Sustainable Resilient Longmont
Don’t see your organization’s name on the list? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected]
