America’s Giving Challenge is an amazing program from The Case Foundation that See3 had the opportunity to support this year. It is a program that encourages nonprofits, large and small, to use the web to engage people in their work, and to encourage small donations. They make this happen through a competition that rewards nonprofits daily during the contest period and overall at the end. Today they just announced that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation added another $75,000 to the pot to give away.

Check it out right now at America’s Giving Challenge

Here’s the press release:

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Grant to America’s Giving Challenge Significantly Increases Number of Overall and Daily Awards Offered to Nonprofit Causes

Challenge Has Already Raised $1.1 million from More Than 50K Donations in Three Weeks;
Runs through November 6

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 30, 2009) – America’s Giving Challenge, a 30-day, national online competition that encourages people to leverage their social networks to recruit supporters and win cash awards for nonprofit organizations, today announced that it has received a $75,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan to help mobilize participation in the last week of the Challenge.

The grant increases the total amount of award dollars in the Challenge to $245,000 for nonprofit causes that net the highest number of donations. America’s Giving Challenge, presented by the Case Foundation, Causes and PARADE Publications, launched on October 7, 2009. To date more than 50,000 donations have raised $1.1 million for nonprofit causes.

“America’s Giving Challenge offers a tremendous opportunity to raise funds and awareness for nonprofit organizations at a time when the communities we care about, including children and families, have never been in greater need of their services,” said Anne Mosle, vice president for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “We hope that collaborating with our colleagues in these efforts will not only encourage more innovation by all the participants in their fundraising efforts, but ultimately spark a larger movement of nonprofits leveraging technology to reach new audiences and inspire civic action.”

The $75,000 contribution from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will enable the creation of five additional overall awards, including one $25,000 and four $10,000 prizes for the causes that garner the most unique daily donations over the 30 days of the Challenge. In addition, a $1,500 daily prize will be added for the last seven days of the Challenge beginning at 3 p.m. ET today. With the additional contribution, America’s Giving Challenge now offers 12 overall awards: one $50,000 prize, two $25,000 prizes and nine $10,000 prizes, and three daily awards of $1,500, $1,000 and $500.

Individuals and nonprofits can still get involved in America’s Giving Challenge. From now until November 6 at 3 p.m. ET, participants can compete for daily and overall awards – ranging from $500 to $50,000 – based on the number of donations to their cause using the Causes application on Facebook. Those who wish to participate in the Challenge can get involved in one of two ways:
• Champion a cause – Individuals can become “cause champions,” who are passionate about a specific cause and will compete to obtain the most donations for their cause through the Causes application on Facebook.
• Promote, donate or join a cause – all individuals are encouraged to take part in America’s Giving Challenge by joining, promoting and donating to the causes they care about. Facebook membership is not required to donate to a Giving Challenge cause.

Participants can register to compete in the Giving Challenge, view details and donate to a cause they care about at www.americasgivingchallenge.com.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin American and the Caribbean, and southern Africa.

About the Presenting Partners:

The Case Foundation
The Case Foundation, created by Steve and Jean Case in 1997, invests in people and ideas that can change the world. The Foundation champions initiatives that connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action. For more information, visit www.casefoundation.org.

Causes
Causes empowers anyone with a good idea or passion for change to impact the world. Using our platform, individuals mobilize their network of friends to grow lasting social and political movements. To date, over 85 million Facebook users have installed the application and created and joined more than 300,000 grassroots causes that benefit more than 60,000 nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit the Causes Application (www.causes.com) and Causes Exchange (www.exchange.causes.com).

PARADE
PARADE, the most widely read magazine in America, is distributed in more than 500 of the nation’s top newspapers. The magazine, which launched in 1941, now has a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 73 million. Each Sunday in PARADE and every day at Parade.com, our mission is to entertain, inspire and inform Americans about the issues they care most about and move them to action. For more information, visit www.parade.com.