Holding a banner for losamaosgives.org during Tuesday’s regular meeting, from left, Los Alamos County Counilors David Reagor and Suzie Havemann, Los Alamos Community Foundation Executive Director Steve Laurent, Council Chair Denise Derkacs and Councilors Melanee Hand and Theresa Cull hold. Courtesy/LAC
LACF News:
Coordinated by the Los Alamos Community Foundation (LACF), Los Alamos Gives is a community-wide event, focused on Giving Tuesday (Nov. 28) that encourages the community to contribute to Los Alamos and Rio Arriba area nonprofit organizations through a single online giving platform – losalamosgives.org.
Los Alamos Gives is a powerful “one-stop giving” site where donors can search for their favorite nonprofit organizations, or find new ones, to make donations in a safe and secure manner. Though focused on Giving Tuesday, the site will be open throughout the holiday season – Nov. 21 through Dec. 31. As part of this campaign, LACF will be driving donors in town to the site through banners, articles, even table tents at local restaurants.
“Giving Tuesday is about transforming community by giving locally,” LACF Executive Director Steve Laurent said. “We’ve established this site as a place where you can ‘shop’ for your local nonprofits this holiday season and gift them for supporting the community throughout the year. We encourage giving to as many organizations as you can.”
This November marks the first year of Los Alamos Gives, and LACF plans to grow it in visibility and impact every year. Los Alamos Gives is not just an effort to make giving easier, but also to help educate the community on the breadth and quality of the services and opportunities local nonprofits provide.
“Awareness is especially important with many new people moving into the area,” Laurent said. “This collective site allows people to become more familiar with the local nonprofit landscape so they can support the causes they most care about.”
Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization Executive Director Jacci Gruninger said she sees additional value in having nonprofit fundraising through a single site.
“Collaborating with other non-profits to elevate our missions is a strong part of our organizational values,” she explained. “Participating in this year’s Los Alamos Gives affords us a way to live our values and provide an additional way for the Los Alamos community to reach out and support our organization and all organizations serving the area.”
Ultimately, according to Laurent, the Los Alamos Gives campaign has several goals – to grow and diversify funding for nonprofits, to foster a greater sense of philanthropy in the community, and to inform the public about the positive impact local nonprofits have on people’s lives.
Anyone can donate. Simply click ‘donate’ at the main page and search for the organization(s) want to support, then click ‘donate’ again to give to that organization. Donations can be made via credit card and several online payment platforms.
The Community Foundation would like to thank Enterprise Bank & Trust for being the anchor sponsor of Los Alamos Gives, and LANL/Triad National Security for providing additional sponsoring support.
About the Los Alamos Community Foundation
Established in 2015, the mission of the Los Alamos Community Foundation is to build enduring philanthropy to empower our community’s nonprofit organizations. LACF stewards sixteen permanent endowment funds and supports local nonprofits through training, initiatives and grantmaking. For more information about the Los Alamos Community Foundation, visit www.losalamoscf.org.
