On Wednesday, crowdfunding platform CrowdRise announced its annual Giving Tower campaign for #GivingTuesday on November 29th. The Giving Tower is described as an innovative and turnkey fundraising platform organization. The funding portal revealed:
“For the last five years, CrowdRise has innovated around traditional holiday giving by inviting thousands of charitable organizations to join a fundraising competition where the top crowdfunding charities win grand prize donations for their causes. In 2014, CrowdRise introduced the CrowdRise Giving Tower for #GivingTuesday. The CrowdRise Giving Tower is an immersive giving experience that incorporates innovative technology, virtual reality, multi-platform integration, friendly competition, and more to make giving back fun, easy, and impactful.”
To participate in the Giving Tower fundraiser, participants visit the website to select an organization and make donations. Users may also download the VR Giving Tower App to watch the tower grow brick-by-brick as donations arrive. Featured charity participants and partners in the campaign include Global Impact, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, The American Red Cross, Human Rights Campaign, American Cancer Society, Best Friends Animal Society, and We Charity. Newman’s Own is offering a match for pre-selected charities.
Speaking about this year’s event, Robert Wolfe, CrowdRise Co-Founder and CEO, stated:
“We’re psyched for #GivingTuesday and continue to be incredibly impressed by the charities that are participating in our CrowdRise Giving Tower campaign. Organizations and their supporters have been rallying like mad since the election. It’s clear that people want to engage and help out more than ever.”
In regards to last year’s Giving Tower success, CrowdRise shared:
“Last year, the CrowdRise Giving Tower reached 4,359 feet, overtaking the Burj Kalifa, the tallest building in the world, and raised $3.8 million in a single day. This year, the online fundraising site expects even greater participation and dollars raised, especially in light of increased fundraising in the last 3 weeks. Since the 2016 election, CrowdRise has seen an increase of 40% in online fundraiser creation.”
Along with the Giving Tower campaign, CrowdRise announced the CrowdRise Holiday Charity Challenge, which launched on Tuesday, November, 22nd and will run through Thursday, January 5th. The team that raises the most on #GivingTuesday wins $25,000. Charities participating in the Holiday Charity Challenge will have the opportunity to win additional donations over the course of the campaign. The top five raising charities will win:
- 1st Place: $100,000
- 2nd Place: $50,000
- 3rd Place: $25,000
- 4th Place: $10,000
- 5th Place: $5,000
CrowdRise then added that also, participants would have the opportunity to win up to $60,000 in Weekly Bonus Challenge prizes.