Nancy Kramer has played an active role at The Columbus Foundation with The Big Give campaign in the past, but this year she’s taking it to the next level. The founder of Resource Interactive (now Resource Ammirati) is serving on the Governing Committee at The Columbus Foundation, which means that her work on The Big Give campaign actually began several months ago.
“The first year of The Big Give coincided with TEDxColumbus, and we unveiled the results there to share that news with the community, which was an interesting intersection,” she said. “But this is my first year on the Governing Committee, so I’m hearing more about it from that side — being involved in the planning, and figuring out how to raise $1.3 million from donors is new for me.”
For those who are unfamiliar, The Big Give campaign launched in 2011, and returns for its third iteration at 10am on Tuesday, May 12th, running through 10am on Wednesday, May 13th. The 24-hour giving campaign allows locals to make small donations online, which are then amplified by the additional Foundation funding pool of $1.3 million.
“It’s a very positive event, and I think people like the spirit of it,” said Kramer. “We have such a giving community already, it’s really cool the way we can give participants a new way to raise money for their favorite nonprofits.”
Kramer says that she enjoys devoting time to staying active and engaged in a number of local nonprofit organizations. She’s been the board chair at The Wellington School for the past eight years, and on the board at The Wexner Center too. Kramer feels strongly about philanthropy being an important component of everyone’s lives, so her company has made it a point to include all employees in their giving campaigns.
“We have a program called Resource Gives, which gives every one of our associates $250 a year to give to their favorite 501c3,” she explained. “We ask people to spend 25 hours of time volunteering each year too.”
Kramer says that by delegating the giving decisions to employees rather than making those decisions by leadership at Resource, it empowers people with those charitable decisions. She noted that the program shares some parallels with the structure of The Big Give.
“We used to be really inundated with donation asks from so many nonprofits that we eventually decided that instead of the organization making the decisions, the associates can make those decisions,” she said. “That way the process can be more personal — the more personal a donation can be, the better.”
All Central Ohioans are invited to support their favorite charities and causes during The Big Give. Online donations to over 630 local nonprofit organizations can be made between 10am on Tuesday May 12th and 10am on Tuesday May 13th. All individual contributions will be amplified by a $1.3 million bonus pool assigned on a pro rata basis.
For more information, visit www.columbusfoundation.org.
