The Community Foundation of Monroe County has turned giving into a team sport.
CFMC is nearly halway through its inagural Philanthropy Playoffs, a community-wide competition between 12 teams representing local causes. Starting Aug. 1 and going until Oct. 2, the teams earn points through donations to a shared Fan Fund, event participation, and social media engagement. The playoffs culminate at Pin Seekers on South Dixie Highway on Oct. 2, where members of each team will go head-to-head in indoor games for more points.
“We’re really just trying to help Monroe County see how when we come together with donations as small as five dollars and all the way up to those big, event-level sponsors, that we can really help some of these teams hit their goals and do great things, if we work together to do that,” said Brittany Novak, who does development and communications for CFMC.
The Fan Fund is at the center of the competition; it serves as a prize pool powered by community donations. Every dollar given helps build the total, with donors being able to choose which team receives the points associated with the money. At the end of the playoffs, the Fan Fund will be redistributed to the teams based on the percentage of points they earned. Additionally, the first place team will earn an additional $5,000 and the second place will earn $2,500, provided by CFMC.
As of Aug. 25, the fund is at a total of $22,624.
“We have some big goals here at the community foundation on what we can get that fund to when we get to Oct. 2, but I’d say these teams really started at a sprint, because we’re just over three weeks in and they’re already over that $20,000 mark,” Novak said.
The teams and what they’re raising money for can be found at https://cfmonroe.org/playoffs.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County turns giving into a game with inaugural Philanthropy Playoffs
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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