The Greater Summit Grand Finale... The Greater Match

Today’s a big day for the Greater Sum Foundation. From the time we launched our first grant application in 2017, we’ve been on a mission to provide the best possible support services to early-stage nonprofits. Listening, reflecting, appreciative inquiry, and reiterating led us to today, the launch of our Nonprofit Accelerator and The Greater Match.

At the end of last year, the Greater Sum board focused on twin goals for increasing impact. Our capacity for awarding grants limited the number of organizations we served, leaving our volunteers hungry for more opportunities to help. The nonprofits we served identified one key support they’d like to see as they transitioned out of their grant year: introductions to more funders and supporters of their missions. Our revamped program model achieves both of this goals, and today we see it come to fruition.

In 2020, the Greater Sum quadrupled the number of nonprofits we connected with volunteers for short and long term coaching and consulting projects. We used a curriculum created by volunteer subject matter experts to help 20 nonprofits strengthen their financial strategy and become more sustainable. We converted our grant application to a pitch competition and this morning we welcomed nine nonprofits from the competition to our Nonprofit Accelerator, a six month all-access pass to the Greater Sum volunteer network plus a fundraising and network building experience we call The Greater Match.

The nonprofits in the accelerator are doing the kind of work Greater Sum was created to nurture. They’re innovating in their field, and they’re doing so with a strategy that will scale to serve more communities at a reasonable cost. Whether they’re connecting veterans with nature, increasing civic awareness, or improving maternal health outcomes, we think these organizations are a smart investment of your philanthropic dollars.

That’s why we are double matching online donations made through our Nonprofit Accelerator this month, up to $12,500. Visit the accelerator, shop around. On each organization’s page you’ll find a short video explanation of their work, their mission statement, and a deeper dive into their strategy in the form of their pitch deck. Each organization has a designated online giving form, where you can make an individual donation to the Greater Sum which we’ll double match, tripling the impact of your investment in the nonprofits you’re excited about.

If you missed the Pitch Competition Winner announcement on Facebook Live this morning, here’s a replay. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Come celebrate and fuel nonprofit innovation with us!

Vote for Audience Favorite in Greater Sum's Virtual Pitch Competition!

Wow, Greater Sum’s first virtual Annual Meeting was fun! I’ve been sad about not gathering in person for Greater Summit, but last night I found the sparkling silver lining to the virtual format. I was right alongside our TGS volunteers and nonprofit partners, watching in my PJs with a bowl of popcorn and my family.

Together we looked back at bright spots of 2020 and explained Greater Sum’s new Incubator - Pitch Competition - Accelerator program model. We debuted the nonprofits competing for funding prizes in the Pitch Competition, and made the exciting announcement that an anonymous donor will double-match your December donations in the Accelerator up to $12,500. (That means we’ll be distributing up to $37,500 in grants in January 2021!)

The audience favorite prize in the pitch competition is still up for grabs. Watch the pitch video, then vote for your favorite organization by November 25th. You can see the live announcement of pitch competition winners December 1st at 10am Eastern on Greater Sum’s Facebook page.

Thanks for your support and enthusiasm for this new model! We’ve got even more nonprofit support and network expansion planned for 2021.

Anna Taylor, Executive Director

The Greater Sum Foundation

Reflections on Greater Summit 2020: Resilience and Innovation in Uncertain Times

It was WONDERFUL to see so many nonprofit partners at Greater Summit last week! If you registered but weren’t able to join us, or if you are just learning about it now, you can watch Greater Summit On Demand.

From now until 11/30/2020, click the Greater Summit registration page to watch the recording at your convenience. Our keynote speakers, panelists, and wellness practitioners had so much practical wisdom to share - be sure to take advantage before the video is archived on 11/30!

Greater Summit 2020: Resilience in Uncertain Times

When we wrapped up Greater Summit 2019 in Boston, there were lots of hugs and high fives, and enthusiasm for coming together again in 2020. Like so many organizations, we’ve moved our event online and gone through many iterations of what a virtual summit looks and feels like. We’re mourning the hugs and high fives, but we’re savoring the opportunity to include many participants who couldn’t travel to our live event.

Greater Summit 2020 won’t try to pack a two-day conference into one marathon online event. We are hosting an education event for nonprofit leaders next week, an annual meeting for ALL friends of TGS next month, and an exciting live announcement in December.

The theme for our education event is “Resilience in Uncertain Times” and we’ve lined up some exciting speakers to get you thinking about both personal and organizational resilience. We can’t wait to update you on bright spots from 2020 and our plans for the future at our annual meeting. And once you meet our Virtual Incubator participants at the annual meeting, you’ll be as excited as they are about the live announcement in December.

Register for the education event HERE and be sure to follow @greatersumfound on your favorite social media channel for updates.

Grant Partner Spotlight: 7000 Languages

7000 Languages helps indigenous communities around the world teach, learn, and sustain their languages through technology. To date, they’ve created 36 courses in 19 languages, at no cost to communities. Language revival is linked to happier, healthier kids, advances in science, and more resilient communities. And of the 7000 languages in the world, over half of them are endangered. The need for this organization’s work is vast - every language course means that new generations are able to enjoy this critical connection to their cultural identity.

We’re proud to support 7000 Languages as a member of The Greater Sum’s 2020 Nonprofit Cohort! Visit their website to learn more, and follow them at @7000Languages for updates.

Virtual Volunteers: High Impact, Low Risk

COVID-19 changed the way many of us live and work, AND volunteer. Virtual volunteering opportunities are becoming more plentiful as nonprofits adjust to pandemic-related restrictions on their operations. The benefits and drawbacks will be familiar to many who are also adjusting to working from home. There’s no commute, you can fit volunteering into your schedule, you can volunteer in locations you couldn’t get to in person. But many virtual volunteers are missing the socialization opportunities of a communal project or a welcoming volunteer workplace.

Greater Sum’s Executive Director, Anna Taylor, recently spoke with Liz Hack of the Small Shop Fundraising podcast about virtual volunteerism. This is new territory for many, but Greater Sum connects skills-based volunteers virtually with nonprofits across the country. We’ve learned a few things about successful remote volunteer activities, and are happy to share!

If you are looking for a new virtual volunteer opportunity, Greater Sum is gearing up for our Fall pitch competition and we will need volunteers to serve as pitch coaches and evaluators. Fill out a volunteer interest form if you’d like to know more!

Grant Partner Spotlight: Cures within Reach for Cancer

Cures Within Reach for Cancer is a nonprofit startup creating new and affordable cancer treatments using artificial intelligence (AI) to repurpose non-cancer generic drugs. We’re happy to spotlight their work, and to have them as a member of The Greater Sum’s 2020 Nonprofit Cohort.

Like many organizations, CWR4C has been influenced by COVID-19. Cancer patients are a particularly vulnerable population when it comes to COVID-19 infection. Many of the treatments being evaluated for COVID-19 are repurposed generic drugs, and some also have documented effects on cancer. CWR4C is deploying their evidence synthesis technology to understand how COVID-19 drugs affect cancer. Their findings will help cancer patients who also have COVID-19 make critical treatment decisions. Follow them at @CWR4C for updates!

Grant Partner Spotlight: SafeBAE

We're proud to have SafeBAE as a member of TGS' 2020 Nonprofit Cohort, and happy to share with you their work to end sexual assault among middle and high school students.

SafeBAE continues to support teens during our current period of physical distancing. They are transforming their May 2020 Summits into virtual events, providing important tools for online safety, and exploring what red flags for dating violence looks like in our current state of isolation. Follow them @safebae for important updates during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Sight Visit: Digital Harbor Foundation

Hi! I’m Serena Hawtin, Communications Specialist for The Greater Sum Foundation. I recently visited Digital Harbor, a member of our 2018 Nonprofit Cohort, to learn how some of their makerspace innovations could be implemented by after-school programs in other communities. Come along with me on a Greater Sum Sight Visit - a look at how Digital Harbor introduces students to high tech, high demand career skills in a fun, engaging makerspace after school.

Founder Story: MilkCrate

Morgan Berman combined her professional experience working in nonprofits, design education, and love of tech to create MilkCrate, a company that creates gamified apps for nonprofits. These apps help nonprofits track outcomes and engagement at a reasonable price point, making MilkCrate a great “representative that business can be a force for good in the world.” We sat down with Morgan to talk about how MilkCrate came to be, their work with nonprofit and foundation clients, and how she navigates self care as a start-up founder.

LISTEN to our interview with Morgan

READ a transcript

Interested in connecting with MIlkCrate? They’re hosting a Syposium on Foundation and Nonprofit Impact Tracking in Philadelphia this Friday, February 6th. Click here to learn more!