After a chaotic 2020 in which numerous nonprofit organizations had to postpone or cancel fundraisers in the Permian Basin due to COVID, the inaugural Permian Basin Gives was soon put to plan.
The community-wide event and community coordinated event turned out to be a success back in August and now the second edition of it will take place on May 18.
One-hundred-thirty-one nonprofits from the area will be coming together to participate in the 24-hour day of giving.
“It’ll be nonprofits from Midland and Odessa and the Trans-Pecos area, so all over the area and it’s a way for people to donate and make an impact with the nonprofit sector,” Executive Director of the Nonprofit Management Center Laurie Johnson said.
Johnson said that the idea of a giving back fundraiser for nonprofits had been in the works for awhile, but they hadn’t been able to find the right way to do it until last year.
“Several of the directors of area nonprofits were talking about what we can do to try and put together some way to encourage giving to the nonprofits because so many of us had to cancel or postpone events,” Johnson said. “Some had to be put on hold in so many cases. We wanted to find a way to encourage giving to the nonprofits so we came together as a group and created Permian Basin Gives where all the donations are driven through the https://permianbasingives.org/ website.
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on May 18, it will last until 11:59 p.m. Only gifts received during the 24-hour period can be applied to the goal and are eligible for matching donations for those designated agencies.
A list of the agencies can be found at the Permian Basin Gives website.
“You can go on there and look at the list of nonprofits that are participating or you can click on their icons and it will take you to their page,” Johnson said. “But it’s really a community effort. We really felt the need to help nonprofits while everyone was struggling and has been struggling, because in many cases, some people have had to cancel their fundraising events. It also encourages people to think past the events and encourages them to look for new ways to get new donations.”
Johnson said most of the difficulties in coordinating the event have come from doing it virtually.
“Most of everything is being done by Zoom now,” Johnson said. “Coordinating via Zoom and getting people out into the community to put out yard signs and pick up yard signs and that’s been challenging because we’ve had to do it all virtually.”
The nonprofits that participate are asked to set their goals for the fundraiser.
“There are participation forms and deadlines that they have to meet to be able to participate,” Johnson said. “They have to set a goal and the goal that’s been set by the nonprofits is a little over $2.5 million for that 24-hour period.”
Last year’s goal was $1,688,500.
That mark was more than met as last year’s Permian Basin Gives reached a total of $1,826,060.98.
“Without the nonprofits, we wouldn’t have the community that we have,” Johnson said. “The nonprofits provide so much.”
Just like in August, this edition of Permian Basin gives will feature a telethon on the day of the event.
“This year, Channel 7, Channel 9, Channel 2 and Basin PBS will all be participating and from 6:30-7, the three networks and Basin PBS will be televising live from the Basin PBS studios,” Johnson said. “Then from 7-8:30, the telethon will continue and be broadcast on Basin PBS, but the other networks will be participating. I think it’s amazing that we were able to get all four networks to come together and participate together to do this.”
Another key difference between this Permian Basin Gives and last year is the amount of people who are aware of it now.
“We have more participants,” Johnson said. “What’s different is that this year (is) we can concentrate more on getting people to donate versus having to tell people what Permian Basin Gives is. Last year was the first year that people had heard of it. Now, people are aware of it.”
