03 Aug ENCOURAGING GIVING BACK IN THE BERKSHIRES
ENCOURAGING GIVING BACK IN THE BERKSHIRES
The Giving Back guide is a free publication designed to facilitate connections between nonprofits and individuals wishing to donate or volunteer. It’s got a handy directory of 1,000 Berkshire nonprofits by category, meaning that a resident interested in getting involved with an arts organization can find a list of 120 such organizations in the Arts & Culture section of the directory.
The Giving Back guide also features full page profiles of over 100 nonprofits, which makes fascinating reading and more importantly, describes ways people can help. For Flying Cloud Institute, a few words about needing help with human resources resulted in a match to a highly qualified HR executive who eventually became a board member. That’s exactly how the book is supposed to work!
But there are so many other stories of how the book is being used…
- A giving circle uses it to make quarterly donations to nonprofits
- An artist whose policy is to donate the proceeds from the sale of one painting every quarter uses it to identify the recipients of his philanthropy
- A church provides the book to interviewees for the post of pastor in the hopes of showing how vibrant the charitable sector is in our community
- A retiree who wants to give back to the community studies the book to get an overview of the nonprofit landscape and some possible volunteer gigs
- Camps and schools use the Giving Back guide to help youth identify community service projects
- A couple peruses the book to identify nonprofits for year-end giving
- Civic groups use the book as a tool to focus their giving and community service projects
- Leadership, adult learning, and senior engagement groups provide copies to participants
- Elder Services uses it to place eligible seniors in federally funded employment situations
Getting the Giving Back guide into the right hands increases community engagement, a core tenet of our strategy to leverage local assets to help nonprofits. It has become an indispensable tool to help people navigate the crowded sector and find a nonprofit to support and it has grown every year as more nonprofits participate to increase awareness of their missions.
While this is a big endeavor for a small organization like the NPC, we nevertheless hope to expand the distribution of the guide with the help of our generous sponsors including Berkshire Bank Foundation, Feigenbaum Foundation and Dr. Robert C. & Tina Sohn Foundation. Local business advertisers are also partners in this project, whether they regularly serve nonprofits or not. We’re grateful for these partnerships and the opportunity to provide a really practical service to the community.
NONPROFITS!
Reserve your full-page profile to get your mission and needs into the hands of prospective donors and volunteers. Don’t delay; the deadline is August 16th.
Do you believe in Giving Back?
YOU can support this publication and help us distribute 5,000 FREE copies by purchasing a $50 ad. Your colorful block ad will feature the phrase “I (or We) Believe in Giving Back” and your name(s). Click here for more details.
Promote your BUSINESS
Connect with second homeowners, people relocating or retiring here, and full time residents looking for more information about our local nonprofits AND help underwrite the costs of this publication. Read more.