Dear friends,
I hope you had a wonderful Halloween & that you're all doing as well as possible, sending long-distance hugs <3
I'm reaching out on behalf of my favorite giving project, Blue Heart https://www.blueheartaction.org/, as we're planning for this year's iteration of the Giving Guide (2021 version here https://www.blueheartaction.org/giving-guide-2021), which launches in the next few weeks. The guide recommends specific places to donate money: important and amazing but less visible/less funded organizations which focus on long-term movement/power building for marginalized communities.
I'm looking for folks willing to contribute to this matching pool in advance. This would be a pledge to match up to $N of other people's donations made through the Giving Guide. We're hoping this can be a big round number to inspire everyone to give more (last year we managed a $30K match—thanks to quite a few of you!!!—and I've been challenged to get at least $3K more in pledges this year :)
If you're interested in making a matching pledge this year—or can think of a friend/family member/coworker/etc who would be interested—please let me know! Happy to answer any questions (took a pass at the 2 most common ones below).
I realize this is a bigger ask, especially given everything happening in the world these days. I deeply appreciate your consideration.
Sincerely, Stacey
Q: is there a minimum amount asked of a matching donor? A: not really, every little bit helps! If you're on the fence, please send me an email! I would appreciate increments of $250 for bookkeeping, and if it's < $250, perhaps waiting until the Giving Guide is launched and giving directly to the orgs would be simpler. I'm personally in for $2000.
Q: are these pledges tax-deductible? A: Last year we had a somewhat complicated system to make the math work across individual donors and specific organizations, and around folks' ability to make non-tax-deductible matching donations. This year, we're hoping to ask everyone to donate through Blue Heart, with fiscal sponsorship/501(c)3 status. We hope this makes things much easier overall! However, this does mean there will be a small percentage transaction fee for the fiscal sponsor (slightly less of each donation will go directly to the Giving Guide orgs).