RIPPLE Steps

Respond
Invest
Plan
Participate
Lead
Engage

RESPOND
Are you making gifts to nonprofit organizations in your community but not sure how to make your gifts more effective? Are you already volunteering but looking for a way to maximize your value to a cause? Are you tired of hearing that young people aren’t giving to charity?

The My Colorado offers a flexible guide to giving, volunteering and leading based on your personal values and interests. My Colorado presents the opportunity to make a plan for thoughtful support of the causes you care about most.

My Colorado provides young philanthropists connections to established, efficient, and effective community investment programs across Metro Denver. Community Shares of Colorado has partnered with leaders in the civic engagement field to offer a guide to navigating your path as a young philanthropist.

The My Colorado project is your call to action. It is up to you to RESPOND.

INVEST
The first step we ask you to take is to commit to one year of consistent, core operating support to the charity or charities of your choice. My Colorado asks you to make a monthly $25 contribution to your designated charity or charities

We encourage a $25 minimum monthly gift for three reasons:

1. Fundraising studies suggest a monthly giving plan is a valued option for young philanthropists- a relatively affordable monthly gift adds up to a substantial total gift of $300.

2. An annual gift of $300 will establish you as a leadership level donor at most local charities.
3. A consistent, monthly gift offers charities a steady stream of funding, not dependent on seasonal giving, granting cycles, or unexpected world events that shift large-scale one-time gifts to specific response groups and decrease gifts to local, community-based organizations.

To make the process as easy and efficient as possible, My Colorado allows you to make your gift via a monthly Automatic Giving Plan (AGP) using electronic funds transfer (EFT) technology. No stamps, no check book, no forgetting whether or not you’ve given. It’s a once-a-month automatic contribution from your checking account. AGP is the most efficient method of financially supporting your chosen charity.

If you do not currently have a nonprofit organization you wish to support, My Colorado will offer you personalized guidance to identify the cause you want to support and the organization most in line with your interests. Whether you value innovative service delivery, social justice advocacy, or quality collaboration, we will guide you to the information you need to choose a nonprofit recipient.

Young philanthropists have the opportunity to revolutionize how people support causes. Rather than making a one-time gift in response to a specific appeal or project, a one-year commitment to monthly giving represents an INVESTMENT in long-term change.

PLAN
Investing is a great first step when it comes to your personal philanthropy. The next step is to make a map of where you want to go and how you are going to get there. My Colorado will assist you in making an annual Personal Philanthropy Plan. Your plan will help you identify the causes you care about most, consider how you like to invest your time and money in creating change, and create mile-markers for you to use to assess your course.

In identifying your cause, we encourage you to take a general issue and pinpoint your interest. For example, you know you want to address homelessness. Do you have a target population of particular concern such as teens, mothers with children, armed service veterans, the mentally ill, or those with chemical dependency? Are you interested in addressing the steps to get people into housing, the steps that lead people toward homelessness, affordable housing, or safe emergency shelter? You may decide you want to support comprehensive services or you may choose to address a specific area that resonates with you.

Next, in considering where to invest your energy, we encourage you to consider how the issue is addressed. You may value innovative service delivery, political advocacy and systemic change, or actively involving clients served in making key program decisions. As you evaluate what energizes you as a philanthropist, you will begin to see how your time and talents will best serve an organization. Options range from volunteering to provide a direct service, offering administrative or outreach assistance, or serving on an advisory board and fundraising.

PARTICIPATE
Community Shares is collaborating with local volunteerism, leadership, and training programs to offer easy access to participation opportunities across Denver. If you are looking for a hands-on volunteer experience we will supply a list of opportunities with our 120 member nonprofit organizations and link you to the local volunteer placement nonprofits including Metro Volunteers and Volunteers of America. If you are interested in leadership development, we will introduce you to leadership programs such as Impact Denver through the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc.’s, Downtown Denver Leadership Program, the Neighborhood Leadership Development Program through The Denver Foundation, the Young Nonprofit Professional Network (YNPN), and several others. We will also post relevant trainings and education forums offered by Community Shares of Colorado, the Colorado Nonprofit Association, the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), local education centers, and various community organizations.

LEAD
My Colorado recommends three points of emphasis in becoming a philanthropic leader: providing consistent financial support; participating on an advisory board or board of directors; and, moving through your career promoting corporate citizenship. Through your EFT gift you have made a first and significant step in funding community change.

Next, My Colorado encourages participants to make a commitment to join an Advisory Board or Board of Directors for a nonprofit organization. Community Shares will provide information and training to become a first-time board member. We will assist you in identifying the talents you have to share as a director. Also, we will guide you through the types of questions to ask a potential match to be sure a nonprofit organization has proper governance standards in place. Our online network will help you seek and secure a mutually beneficial relationship with a nonprofit organization. Serving on a board of directors is a major step in becoming a community leader and sharing your experience and passion with others.

Also, we will prepare you to return to your workplace and become a leader in promoting corporate citizenship and community investment. Partnering with the Denver Office of Strategic Partnerships, we will provide you with the Corporate Giving Tool-Kit produced by the Mayor’s Office. We will also discuss the importance of workplace giving, pursuing matching gifts, and event sponsorship. Not only will we give you the information on how corporate gifts serve the community, we will give you the facts on how philanthropic giving enhances a corporation’s image amongst consumers.

ENGAGE
To complete the My Colorado program we ask you to build your network of givers. Using our online giving portal, you can invite friends to join your giving network and track your cumulative investment in the community. Using a shared giving calculator, online volunteer sign-ups, blogs and other social media, you can introduce philanthropy into your daily conversations.

The final step in becoming a philanthropist is understanding why it is okay and important to ask others to give. We will talk about asking for donations, engaging friends and family in giving programs, and simple ways to raise funds. In addition, we would be happy to help you plan any larger-scale events such as a house party to engage a group of people in supporting your favorite causes and charities. Through engaging new givers you become more than a philanthropist, you become a community changemaker.