Stories

2023 Year in Review

Happy New Year! Before we rush into planning 2024, here's a look back at all of the ways you engaged with SHARE Greater Lynchburg in 2023!
 
SHARE Greater Lynchburg celebrated its third anniversary on October 12, 2023. We exist to Magnify, Equip and Connect the nonprofit sector and do so as a program of the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation (GLCF). We are honored to be the access and equity arm of the GLCF.

SHAREGreaterLynchburg.org features 168 nonprofit organizations, 70-100 volunteer opportunities and 80-100 events (depending upon the season). We have wish lists available for every nonprofit partner to feature much needed items. A weekly blog highlights different nonprofit partners and seasonal campaigns can be found on the site. These include National Volunteer Month, Summer Camps & Youth Programs, the Do Good Work nonprofit jobs page and our Giving Tuesday GIVE GOOD campaign.

 Magnify
 

Our Spring Mixer at the Lynchburg Hillcats stadium in March saw 60 attendees and kicked off their Community Champions Fundraising Program to partner with local nonprofit organizations to sell tickets as a fundraiser. The Hillcats welcomed over 100,000 people to the ballpark this season. Their attendance grew by around 10,000 fans this year compared to last year. The nonprofit sector has significant “people power” and contributed greatly to this growth!

Our Tuesday morning segment on The Mike Show/Radio434.com has interviewed and featured 48 different nonprofit partners. Those interviews are broadcast on digital radio, a podcast and on Facebook and we pivot them into feature articles in our Thursday e-newsletter. Our University of Lynchburg Bonner Leader intern Alyssa Wilson works hard to pull these features and newsletters together. She worked for 10-12 hours every week during the spring and fall semesters.

Equip

Our Board 101 Course, in collaboration with the Central Virginia Academy for Nonprofit Excellence (CVANE) and the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance (LRBA), sponsored by Centra, trained 20 new board members.

SHARE played a key role in organizing the July LRBA Nonprofit Summit and identifying and recruiting the keynote speaker Suzanne Smith from a SHARE Charlotte recommendation and relationship. We had a record 150 registrants attend to learn and connect.

Connect

Our Peer-to-Peer Lunch and Learn hosts this year were GLCF, Jubilee Family Development Center, Park View Community Mission, Meals on Wheels of Greater Lynchburg, Mission Thrift/Freedom 4/24, Miriam’s House, Lyn-CAG, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center, YWCA of Central Virginia and the United Way of Central Virginia. At these 10 events, we engaged 150 different individuals, representing 85 different organizations. Each provided a time for attendees to share and to hear a presentation and tour from the hosting organization. Bag lunches were provided for each registrant and sponsored by Freedom First Credit Union.

At our Fall Mixer at The Flour District, we had 55 attendees representing 36 nonprofits and 5 businesses. This was a time to kick off our GIVE GOOD #LYHGives campaign, to network, and to reflect on the year. The faces of this campaign were coined “Give Good Ambassadors”. Ambassadors were nominated by people in the community who believe that they embody the core values of the campaign and work to give good in Lynchburg. 

440 nominees were given purple beanies with the words “Give Good #LYHGives” embroidered on them to spread awareness about serving the community leading to #GivingTuesday on November 28.

The campaign was made possible due to the generosity of sponsors: The Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, United Way of Central Virginia, WSET ABC13, News & Advance, and Bank of the James. 
Thanks to $25,000 in in-kind media sponsorship, we were able to publicize the campaign through radio, television, print, billboards, yard signs, and on social media to invite ambassadors to share why they GIVE GOOD. 

Nonprofit partners set goals for Giving Tuesday for what they would like to accomplish through the help of volunteers and donors. For example, Free Clinic of Central Virginia and Community Access Network were seeking hygiene items from their wish lists for the neighbors they serve. Park View Community Mission launched their Teal Bag campaign for neighbors to fill with food and return. Miller Home of Lynchburg sought dinner sponsors for their residents for 2024 and Impact Living Services needed Christmas wish list sponsors for teens in their program. Meals on Wheels of Greater Lynchburg also set a goal to recruit five new delivery drivers by Giving Tuesday, which was achieved!

Leading up to the big day of giving, SHARE partnered with nonprofit organizations to host Give Good Days of Service every Tuesday in November. Ambassadors and nonprofit partners arrived in their purple beanies and participated in service at places like The Pierce Street Gateway, the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation, the Lynchburg Humane Society and Lynchburg Daily Bread. 
 
We teamed up with The Mike Show/Radio434.com to host live remotes at different locations in the city: Boonsboro Shopping Center, Lynchburg Community Market and United Way of Central Virginia. Ambassadors and nonprofit partners were interviewed on the show and shared the stories of why they give good to the community. 
 
The morning of Giving Tuesday kicked off with a pancake breakfast at Purple Door Gourmet Kitchen & Catering where 40 ambassadors and partners joined us to eat pancakes, fellowship with one another, and fuel up for a big day of giving good. 
 
It was amazing to see the changemakers of Lynchburg come together throughout the month, and especially on #GivingTuesday. Many organizations participated in posting on social media with #LYHGives and highlighting their donors, ambassadors and spreading their missions. Over 60 organizations actively participated in the campaign. SHAREGreaterLynchburg.org saw 1,200 new visitors to the website in November, with over half coming from an organic search.

- GIVE GOOD #LYHGives Campaign Photo Flipbook
- Living in the Heart of Virginia (Nov 15): "Easy Does It Ways to Support Local Non-Profits with the Give Good Campaign"
- Living in the Heart of Virginia (Nov 28): "Easy-Does-It Ways to Donate or Volunteer on this Giving Tuesday"