Craig Newmark’s craigconnects and Crowdrise launched the second annual Veterans Charity Challenge on Thursday morning, expanded to benefit police and fire fighter nonprofit, in addition to veterans and military charities.
This year’s “Veterans Charity Challenge 2” is a follow-up campaign, which raised more than $445,000 for veteran, military and their family-affiliated nonprofits. It is set to begin on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. EDT and end July 3rd at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Mr. Newark is personally donating $50,000 in cash prizes to encourage Americans to fundraise on behalf of and donate to their favorite “American Hero” nonprofit during the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays.
Mr. Newmark noted, “I think if someone’s willing to serve and even risk his or her life for me, I should give back. And it’s no only those who serve, it’s also family members who give up a lot for all of us.”
Co-founder and CEO of CrowdRise Robert Wolfe added, “We’re so excited to be working with Craig and his squad on the second ‘Veterans Charity Challenge.’ The stories from last year’s campaign were awesome and overwhelming in the best way ever. The notion that we’re able to help veterans, their families, police and fireman in the campaign that’s meaningful and fun is just so great. Challenges like this are exactly what CrowdRise is all about.”
Using the CrowdRise platform, fundraising teams participate in the “Veteran Charity Challenge 2” will compete to raise the most money for their charity and win additional cash prizes for their causes. The nonprofit that raises the most money by the end of the challenge will receive a $20,000 donation from Craig Newmark on behalf of the “Veterans Charity Challenge 2.” Second place will receive a $10,000 donation. Third place will receive a $5,000 donation. An additional $15,000 in Bonus Challenges will be given to charities throughout the campaign.
Any nonprofit organization benefiting veterans, military personnel, police, fire fighters or their families can join the more than 60 confirmed nonprofits participating in the Challenge until June 6th. After June 6th, individuals can sign up to raise money for organizations, not no new organizations can participate.
This is Mr. Newmark’s fifth CrowdRise campaign, including his support to the third annual CrowdRise holiday Charity Challenge, which raised more than $2.3 million for nonprofits. A number of brands and foundations have used CrowdRise for funding challenges, including the Skoll Foundation, Groupon, Martha Stewart and Mozilla. The challenge model, which is exclusive to CrowdRise, is quickly become a favorite corporations, philanthropists and foundations, for who crowdfunding is a needed update on the “giant check presentation” standard of institutional philanthropy. Countless charities plan for CrowdRise’s recurring challenges as critical moments in their yearly fundraising cycles.
Launched in 2011, craigsconnect is Mr. Newmark’s personal, web-based initiative to support philanthropy and public service. The initiative spotlights individuals, organizations, and agencies working for veterans and military families, open government, public diplomacy, back-to-basics journalism, consumer protection and technology for the common good. The website is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives.
