By Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs

This is a great month for the arts in Miami! The way that non-profit arts groups approach fundraising and the tools they have traditionally employed have fundamentally changed just before we end this year with the launch of power2give.org in Miami. By tapping into the growing micro-giving trend in the digital age, our local arts groups now have access to non-traditional donors and can solicit tax-deductible contributions large and small to fund projects individuals are passionate about. Within just a few hours of the website’s official launch, this passion became evident as traffic and donor activity continued increasing and several projects were closing in on completing their funding goals!

True to their innovative spirit, our local arts groups immediately embraced the idea of online fundraising and accessing a new generation of donors. The power2give.org Miami site launched with 45 projects of $10,000 or less from 32 different arts groups. By communicating directly with their donors, and employing social media as the major form of communication, arts groups big and small now have the power to connect and develop relationships in a personal and meaningful way.

Gift cards are available for purchase on the power2give website. These cards enable their lucky recipients to make contributions to any organization with a posted project. And beyond the satisfaction of supporting some amazing projects, donors can see the list of great, personal benefits that they will receive once they make a gift to a project.

We worked closely with our partners, Arts & Science Council in Charlotte, NC and founding sponsor John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to launch power2give.org in Miami. The Knight Foundation’s generous grant of $100,000 is matching every dollar contributed by donors up to the first $100,000 of gifts to projects. So, a $10,000 project needs to raise $5,000 which then, will be matched with $5,000 of Knight Foundation funds to complete the goal! This incentive is empowering our local arts groups to contact new donors who essentially can support a very specific project and leverage these matching funds to make their gift even more powerful. Power2give.org makes it easy to get involved and with the straightforward strategy of taking arts directly to the people.  This potent new fundraising platform has the potential to cultivate a whole new generation of contributors to the arts by making giving adventurous, fun, easy and affordable.