Nonprofit FAQs
Q. What is Give BIG Green Bay?
Give BIG Green Bay is an online giving event designed to transform the way local residents think about and contribute to Brown County charities. The simple online giving platform, giveBIGgreenbay.org, provides a way for everyone to learn more about the work of selected nonprofits and donate, at any level, to causes they champion.
The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and the Green Bay Packers use their community leadership platforms to fuel excitement around the important work nonprofits do for our community and provide an opportunity for donor support.
Q. When is Give BIG Green Bay?
Give BIG Green Bay is a 24-hour online event beginning at noon on Wednesday, February 19, and ending at noon on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
Q. Who is eligible to participate?
To be eligible to participate, agencies must:
- Be designated as a 501(c)(3) by the IRS or have a fiscal sponsor that is a 501(c)(3).
- Serve Brown County residents.
- Conduct business without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, etc.
- Not serve as a pass-through organization.
- Complete the online application and sign a memorandum of understanding.
Q. How do nonprofits apply to participate?
The application process has two components that must be submitted before an organization’s application will be considered complete.
The application deadline is October 31, 2025.
Q. How are nonprofits selected to participate?
The goal in the selection process is to ensure a diverse cross-section of impactful organization serving Brown County is represented. Fields of interests, size, and communities served are all considerations.
Q. If we are selected to participate, will that impact our ability to receive future grant dollars from the Community Foundation or the Green Bay Packers Foundation?
No, Give BIG Green Bay is an independent initiative separate from all Community Foundation and Green Bay Packers Foundation grant considerations.
Q. What is expected of the selected nonprofits in terms of time and effort?
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlines much of what is expected from each nonprofit. The MOU must be signed and submitted before an organization’s application will be considered.
Q. When will the selected nonprofits be announced?
Selected nonprofits will be announced in January 2025. Once the announcement is made, there will be a time-intensive countdown to Give BIG Green Bay, which includes training, the deployment of media tool kits, and event day activities.
Q. Are there guidelines for planning events during Give BIG Green Bay?
Events should be designed to engage people with your mission and raise awareness of your work in the community.
We discourage providing material goods (like food, drink or other items) in exchange for a donation since it may trigger unintended consequences for the donor based on IRS regulations and is outside the spirit of Give Big Green Bay. If you offer food or drink at an event, a donation should be optional. We recommend encouraging a simple “suggested donation” instead.
All donations must be made during the 24-hour giving day event.
Q. Can we hold a raffle to promote Give BIG Green Bay?
Your organization would need to follow all state rules for nonprofit raffles licenses. Additionally, any raffle would have to be independent of an online donation during Give BIG Green Bay. All donations must be made during the 24-hour giving day event.
Q. Do we need to identify a specific program for funding?
No, donors will be contributing to the work of the organizations overall, and the dollars can be applied where there is greatest need. Feel free in the application, however, to highlight current initiatives that may inspire donor support.
Q. What match dollars are available?
The Green Bay Packers Foundation provides a $250,000 grant to create a matching pool of funds for Give BIG Green Bay. The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation underwrites all program expenses allowing the entire $250,000 to be allocated to the participating nonprofits.
At the completion of Give BIG Green Bay, the Community Foundation will determine each nonprofit’s proportionate share of the matching funds by dividing the total amount each organization raised by the total amount raised by all participating nonprofits. This amount will then be multiplied by the total amount of matching funds.
For example, if a nonprofit receives 10% of the total amount of money raised in the 24-hour period, that same organization will receive 10% of the available matching funds. The match will be calculated after transaction fees are deducted from each donation.
Both foundations reserve the right to cap a single organization’s available matching funds should the result materially outweigh those of other organizations.
Q. What are the transaction fees?
All donations will be paid to the nonprofits net of the transaction and platform processing fees as outlined below. For example, $94.20 of a $100 donation made with a credit card will go directly to the selected nonprofit. Donors have the option to cover the fees during check out on the website. The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation does not retain any fees related to Give BIG Green Bay.
GGBCF donor advised fund transactions are exempt from fees.
Transactions include a platform fee of 3.0% +
2.5% +$0.30 for credit cards donations
1.99% +$0.49 for PayPal donations
$3.00 flat fee for ACH payment of $100 or more.
Q. Can participating nonprofits promote a match for their organization outside the Give BIG Green Bay match pool?
If your organization intends to promote a match, please note these contributions are treated like any other donation to your nonprofit during the event. All donations must be entered online during the 24-hours, or a check must be delivered to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation office (400 S. Washington St.) by 10am on February 20 to allow for processing.
If a donor misses either deadline, they are always welcome to send a donation directly to your organization, but it will not be counted toward your final program number.
Q. Why is the program limited to a specific number of participating nonprofits?
Give BIG Green Bay is an opportunity to celebrate and highlight the important role nonprofits play in our community. This giving day event is designed to provide organizations, representing 11 fields of interest, a platform to tell their story, educate the community about their critical work and reach new donors. Limiting the pool of organizations to a representative cross-section of size, sector and reach within Brown County helps bring focus to the work of the participating organizations.
Q. What role does the Community Foundation play in Give BIG Green Bay?
The Community Foundation provides the infrastructure for the event including, administrative resources, online platform, media outreach, and event messages. It will also provide a nonprofit toolkit at www.giveBIGgreenbay.org sources for nonprofits to utilize in their promotion of the event.
Q. If an organization has participated in Give BIG Green Bay, are they eligible to apply the following year?
Yes, organizations are eligible and must reapply each year in order to be considered.
Q. Who will distribute the tax receipts for donations?
GiveGab, the giving day platform provider, will automatically email a receipt acknowledging each gift made during the event.
Q. Will the participating nonprofits have access to their donor information?
Yes, participating nonprofits will be able to download a list of donors from the GiveGab website.
Q. Can people make anonymous donations via the Give BIG Green Bay website?
Yes, all donors have the option to remain anonymous.
Q. What is a "unique donor"?
A unique donor is one individual or corporation/business. Multiple donations from one donor to the same nonprofit will count as one gift. Organizations cannot donate to themselves.
Q. What forms of donations are accepted?
Give BIG Green Bay is an online giving event. All major credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express) are accepted and processed via Stripe, a PCI level 1 secure payment processor, at givebiggreenbay.org. PayPal is also available at checkout and processed via their independent platform. ACH is available for gift of $100 or more.
Donor-advised fundholders of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation will have the option to make contributions from their donor-advised funds to support the participating nonprofits.
Donors unable to make a gift online can hand-deliver a check to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation office between noon on February 21 and 10:00am on February 20, 2025. Checks delivered after 10:00am on February 20 are not guaranteed to be included in the match.
Cash will not be accepted.
Q. Are donations tax-deductible?
When donations are received through the website, a receipt is automatically generated for the gross amount of your gift and emailed to the address you provide. Your tax professional can advise you on the tax deductibility of the donation.
Q. Is there a minimum gift?
There is a $10 minimum donation.