COVINGTON, Va. (VR) – Give Local Alleghany Highlands is an area fundraiser that was started by The Alleghany Foundation in 2021 to support local nonprofits that struggled to fundraise during COVID-19 lockdowns. The campaign was sponsored by The Alleghany Foundation and Ingevity, which awarded $35,000 in prizes to area nonprofits that competed against each other to see who could raise the most money. This year, Give Local ran from May 0-23 with the 23rd being the big “giving day.”
When looking back at previous years versus this one, 2023 was by far the most lucrative. In 2021 and 2022 combined, the campaign raised $350,000. This year alone, it raised nearly $500,000 — $498,074 to be exact. With the competition concluded, it raises the question of which nonprofit was awarded what slice of the $35,000 pie? Equally important, how did the 33 participants compete fairly against one another when some fish are clearly bigger than others?
Madge Vosteen, one of the organizers of the Give Local campaign, stated, “We have divided our 33 nonprofits into large and small, so it’s more equitable.” Therefore, she said, small nonprofits competed against one another and so did the large nonprofits. This kept the competition fair and prevented the big fish from devouring the little ones.
As far as how the prize money was divided, golden tickets worth $200 each were awarded every hour, beginning at 7 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m. This was a random drawing involving each participating nonprofit that had a chance to win only once throughout the day. Additionally, during the six “power hours,” three small nonprofit winners and three large nonprofit winners were offered a portion of the prize money, as well as the overall winners that received more when the event was over.
This year’s small nonprofit that raised the most money was The Alleghany Highlands Arts Council which brought in $6,080. The large nonprofit that raked in the most donations was Boys Home of Virginia which raised $301,528. Power hour winners included Alleghany Highlands Arts Council, Clifton Forge School of the Arts, Alleghany Highlands Genealogical Society, Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center Inc., Alleghany Historical Society and Appalfolks of America Association.
For more results, visit givelocalah.org.
