Spotlight On
November 1, 2005
Organization Name: TouchDC
Founded: 2002
Contact Person: Eric Rigaud, Director
Address: 1400 16th Street, N.W., Suite 740, Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202/939-3433
Fax: 202/939-3442
E-mail: rigaud@touchdc.org
URL: http://www.touchdc.org
Mission:
TouchDC, an online philanthropy initiative of Washington Grantmakers,
seeks to inspire residents of Greater Washington to become regular donors and volunteers, while at the same time help increase
the technological and fundraising capacity of local nonprofits providing critical services in the DC community.
Background:
TouchDC began as a coalition led by Washington Grantmakers of
more than 20 nonprofits, foundations, business leaders, and local media to promote individual giving and volunteering in the region.
TouchDC provides prospective donors with:
- In-depth research information (i.e., mission, program, financial, operational information, etc.) on any of our
region's 23,000+ local charities (powered by Guidestar).
- Convenient and secure online donation capabilities for every registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Greater Washington
(powered by
Network for Good).
- Online local volunteering database, searchable by keyword, charity name or ZIP code
(powered by VolunteerMatch).
TouchDC also provides local nonprofits with the tools, training and support they need to develop their own capacity to
receive online donations and find volunteers — all at no expense to the nonprofit.
TouchDC is a Web site to which people can turn in times of crisis to
donate dollars and time. Since its inception in November 2002, TouchDC has helped raise over $4 million in support of
local charities and matched hundreds of individuals with volunteer opportunities, based on their interests.
Current Programs:
Every year, TouchDC highlights 55 smaller, yet exceptional local nonprofits to be included in its Fall Giving Campaign
(five charities in eleven issue areas are chosen by the TouchDC Coalition).
TouchDC leverages its relationships with TouchDC Coalition members and local media (Washington Post,
Washington Examiner, AOL.com, NBC4, etc.) to spread the word about the great work smaller nonprofits do in our
community, and encourage local residents to support their efforts through their volunteer time and online financial
donations at www.TouchDC.org.
TouchDC also continues to provide free e-philanthropy training sessions as well as free "Donate Now" buttons and
online donor tracking tools for nonprofits, so they can effectively raise money from individual donors online.
Funding Needs:
TouchDC is graciously funded by
The Meyer Foundation,
Freddie Mac Foundation,
Fannie Mae Foundation,
America Online and
Surdna Foundation.
It is currently seeking additional foundation and individual donor support to expand its range of online donation tools and training
in support of nonprofits in the region.
TouchDC believes that smaller nonprofits should not have to pay to play in this new world of e-philanthropy.
It was created to help those smaller nonprofits raise funds from individual donors and find volunteers, so they can continue to provide
their much-needed services in the DC community.
The "Spotlight On" highlights the
activities of a different 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
serving the Metropolitan Washington, DC community.
The selection of organizations for the "Spotlight
On" is based on criteria such as programmatic
interests, geographic focus, and size, to ensure
the broadest possible representation of the region's
nonprofit sector.
If you'd like to see your NPO in the "Spotlight,"
e-mail a description of your organization, following
the above format, to dclibrary@foundationcenter.org,
with "Spotlight Submission" in the subject line.
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