FAQ
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Q. What is Great Community Give and how does it work?
The ninth annual Great Community Give is a one-day event that promotes charitable giving to 501 (c)3 nonprofit organizations located in and serving Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.
Join us on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 6 a.m.- 8 p.m.
There is no entry fee or charge to nonprofits to participate and the minimum donation is $10. The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County hosts this event by contributing administrative resources and giving platform costs.
This event enables anyone (around the world!) to invest in our community and the capacity of local nonprofits. Prize money offered through fun competitions through the day can amplify each organization’s efforts and the impact of its donors.
Q. My nonprofit wants to participate! What are the steps?
1. Register your nonprofit on the Great Community Give website. Registrations open November 1 and close February 1. Here is a webinar and links to information about how to register.
2. Create a profile page for your organization by the deadline of March 15. If you are a prior participant, you can copy and update your profile page of the previous year.
Then you're ready to
- Share your message that you've joined the giving day event.
- Utilize the Great Community Give logo (consistently with the branding guidelines).
- Consider securing matching grants and prizes to entice donors.
- Recruit individuals to be fundraisers for your organization.
- Increase exposure and build your campaign with emails, social media posts or even an outreach event.
Q. Is there a fee for participating nonprofits?
There is no fee for nonprofits to participate; the subscription cost of the online giving platform, as well as administrative resources and staff time, are provided by the Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County as a benefit to the area nonprofit community.
Donations will incur a 3% platform fee plus a 2.5% + $.30 credit card processing fee or a $3.00 flat processing fee for e-check donations made through ACH (e-check donations must be over $100 to use ACH). Donors will always have the option to cover these fees on the organization’s behalf (90% of our donors chose to do this in 2025).
Any donations processed outside of the event’s donation period through GiveGab.com, or subsequent recurring donations are subject to transaction fees outlined on the GiveGab.com pricing page: http://info.givegab.com/pricing.
Q. Are nonprofits vetted before being allowed to participate?
Participation in the Great Community Give is predicated on two criteria: 1) 501(c)(3) status as validated through legal records and 2) a location in and a service area of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Very limited exceptions may apply. Contact TCFHR if you have questions.
TCFHR takes no responsibility for accuracy of information shared on the organization's profile page or linked webpages.
As with any gift, donors should practice due diligence in researching the organization's financial health, leadership, and program effectiveness. Sites such as Charity Watch, Charity Navigator and Guidestar are useful resources to review financial information and other documentation, such as policies that contribute to organizational accountability and transparency.
The Community Foundation encourages prospective donors to contact the nonprofit of interest with specific questions and/or concerns. Before donating, consider asking the charity for a copy of their conflict or interest and whistleblower policies, as well as procedures for receiving and distributing funds. Charity Watch also suggests the following steps: Review the charity’s IRS Form 990 to see if its board of directors is adequately large and independent (Parts VI & VII), if any close family relationships exist (Part VI, line 2 & Schedule O), and if there are any related party transactions between the charity and the people operating it (Schedule L). Also check to see if the charity has reported a diversion of assets (Part VI, line 5) or any excess benefit transactions (Part IV, lines 25a & 25b). Read more about how smaller nonprofits differ in reporting requirements from large nonprofits.
Q. I missed the registration deadline. Can I still register my nonprofit?
Registrations for the Great Community Give will close on February 1 at 11:59 PM. This is a hard deadline, and there will be no exceptions.
Q. If I have a fiscal sponsor, can I participate in the Great Community Give?
Yes. GiveGab accommodates fiscal sponsorship as an option to receive tax-deductible donations if your organization is not currently eligible to receive tax-deductible gifts. Learn more here: How does a fiscal sponsorship work on GiveGab?
Q. Can you explain why some nonprofits participating in Great Community Give do not have a local mailing address? I thought you said this event was only for local nonprofits.
We want this event to support organizations working and serving residents in our local community. All organizations are reviewed for this criteria before being admitted to participate. A handful of nonprofits serving our area do not have a Rockingham County mailing address for various reasons. If you would like to know more about their services provided to this area, follow the link to their main website for more information.
Q. Why do you require a date of birth and last four digits of the nonprofit administrator's social security number for nonprofits' donation payouts?
As an online platform that collects, processes, and distributes money in the form of donations from supporters to organizations, GiveGab must abide by the rules, regulations, and compliance laws of the United States. In particular, they are required to verify that the individual registering an organization to collect donations is authorized to do so and is who they say they are. Additionally, GiveGab needs to verify that the organization is a legitimately registered corporation.
Collecting this information helps us streamline donation processing and payouts with our underlying payment processor (Stripe) and the financial institutions that Stripe works with.
More importantly, we have a duty to our users. When donors choose to support a cause with a monetary gift, it is essential that they trust that their donation is going where they expect it to go! You can read a full explanation here, including how this information is stored.
Q. When can donors give with their credit card?
The online giving platform is available April 7-21 for early giving and on April 22 for the one-day competition.
Donors are also welcome to give cash and checks directly to nonprofits from April 7-21 Note that nonprofits can still take credit card donations through other vendors during this time (as they might do at any other point in the year), but only those credit card donations made through the GiveGab platform count towards Leaderboard totals and contest participation.
The minimum donation is $10.
Q. What is 'Early Giving'?
The Early Giving phase is April 7-21.
Donors can give via credit card on the GCG website or make a gift by cash or check to a participating nonprofit organization.. The cash or check gifts must be logged by the participating nonprofit, BUT they will not be displayed on the website until 6 a.m. on April 22, 2025. This form can be used to collect information from donors so that offline gifts can be easily logged through your GCG dashboard.
"Early Gifts" will be counted towards overall fundraising totals and the Leaderboard totals. Early gifts will NOT count towards the determination of Power Hour prizes or Golden Tickets on the day of Great Community Give.
Q. What are the prizes for 2026?
We won't know how many prizes we can offer until all the sponsors have committed. Sponsorship dollars provide the cash prizes. We also won't know the size categories until registration has closed. We'll share both the size category list AND the prize list in mid-March.
Q., How are size categories determined?
Our size categories are determined by sorting of the revenue data as listed on each organization's FY24 Form 990.
Q. When I check the box to declare state charitable solicitation registration compliance, what am I attesting to?
When you check the box, you are declaring that your organization is compliant with applicable state fundraising requirements in the states in which you may solicit donors using the GiveGab platform.
Please read the following questions for more information on this subject.
Q. What is state charitable solicitation registration?
Nonprofits are held to a high standard of government regulation and public scrutiny. And that is with good reason! Eligible 501(c) nonprofits are exempt from federal corporate taxes and have access to public funding. These benefits are not typically available to for-profit businesses, so laws are in place to protect the public and ensure nonprofits do not abuse their financial advantages. The IRS and states all have requirements for nonprofits.
Q. Why is state charitable solicitation registration compliance important?
Penalties for noncompliance can be serious. The IRS can revoke a nonprofit’s tax exemption and impose fines that can accrue daily. The states can administratively dissolve a nonprofit corporation and levy steep financial penalties. Taking a proactive approach to compliance helps ensure the sustained success of the organization. The cost of staying compliant is small in comparison to the much larger costs of noncompliance.
Q. What are the key aspects of state charitable solicitation registration compliance?
The IRS provides tax exemptions to eligible nonprofits under IRC 501(c). Public charities and private foundations receive 501(c)(3) tax exemption. The IRS scrutinizes organizations when they apply for 501(c)(3) but also ensures that those organizations meet the ongoing obligations to remain eligible. Nonprofits must file a 990 tax form each year with the IRS to disclose their financial data for the year.
Each state has their own set of requirements. Nonprofits are typically incorporated in a given state as a nonprofit corporation. The state in which the nonprofit has incorporated will impose requirements on the nonprofit, and those responsibilities typically span across multiple state agencies. Usually nonprofits must submit an annual filing to the corporations division of the secretary of state, maintain its license to fundraise (charitable solicitation registration), file for a state business license, and maintain state-level tax exemption with the revenue department. As nonprofits expand outside of the state or operate nationwide, they must comply with the same items in each other state as well.
In addition to IRS and state filing requirements, nonprofits must keep adequate records. Keeping accurate and complete records is critical in the event that an organization is audited. It is also common that board members or donors request information from the organization. Finally, records are necessary for submitting applications and renewal filings with various government agencies.
Q. What are Virginia's requirements for charitable solicitation registration?
Virginia requires that before soliciting donations, a charitable organization must file a registration statement with the state. Churches, educational and health care institutions and certain other organizations are exempt from registration as well as solicitations limited in scope. More information is available on the website for the Virginia Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs.
Q. Do you have any additional resources to reference about state charitable solicitation registration?
Yes! Here are a few more resources from Harbor Compliance to help you:
- Guide and Overview of Many Nonprofit State by State Compliance Requirements
- Guide and Overview Specific to Fundraising Compliance
- National Council of Nonprofits and Harbor Compliance have partnered to create a white paper explaining the state charitable solicitation registration requirements.
- A Quick Summary of Charitable Solicitation in Graphic Form
- Executive Brief: Charitable Solicitation Registration (great for driving awareness and support with leadership and the board)
- State by State Links to the State Organizations that Regulate Charities, Solicitation, and Registrations
Q. Is there a fee to donate?
Donations will incur a 3% platform fee plus a 2.5% + $.30 credit card processing fee or a $3.00 flat processing fee for e-check donations made through ACH (e-check donations must be over $100 to use ACH). Donors will always have the option to cover these fees on your behalf.
Any donations processed outside of the event’s donation period through GiveGab.com, or subsequent recurring donations are subject to transaction fees outlined on the GiveGab.com pricing page: http://info.givegab.com/pricing.
Q. Can I ask people to fundraise for my favorite nonprofit?
Yes! Anyone can be a champion for the cause(s) you care about! Join the organization's "peer to peer" fundraisers by either saying yes to invitation from your organization OR visit the organization's page and click "Fundraise." (In order to create a Fundraising Page, you will need to create a user account.)
For more information, visit the “Fundraiser Guide.”
Q. What are Offline Gifts?
We encourage use of the online giving platform because it makes record-keeping and receipting easy. We want everyone to participate, regardless of their giving format preference, and we understand that some donors may prefer to give in check or cash format.
Organizations may accept donations via other methods besides the online giving platform. Check or cash donations, including checks from IRAs or Donor Advised Funds, should be mailed or delivered DIRECTLY to the participating nonprofit no later than 8 p.m. on April 22. Nonprofit administrators must log all cash and check gifts by 8 p.m. on April 16. Review this step-by-step tutorial to make sure you are collecting the important information necessary to log the gift. This form can be used to collect information from donors so that offline gifts can be easily logged through your GCG dashboard.
Donations made with a credit card made directly to the nonprofit are NOT ELIGIBLE to be counted for in totals for any GCG prize competition and should not be logged.
Offline gifts will count only towards Leaderboard prizes; they do NOT count towards the determination of Power Hour prizes or Golden Tickets on the day of Great Community Give.
Q. How are the Most Donors counts determined?
The Most Donors category is counted as “unique donors” by the Givegab platform. Unique donors are identified by email address only. If one donor gave once to two different organizations, they would count as a unique donor to each organization, but only once in the global totals. Offline gifts entered without an email address will be considered unique. Please honor the spirit of ethical competition and do not solicit individual donors to give using different email addresses.
Q. When do organizations receive the funds that were contributed?
Nonprofits will receive the donated funds by direct deposit to their bank account within 5-7 business days of the event. GiveGab uses a PCI Level 1 compliant payment service to ensure that all financial data is secure.
Q. Are donations unrestricted?
Yes. ALL gifts are unrestricted unless the nonprofit is fundraising for a specific project, program, or service. Please reach out to the nonprofit(s) for more information if you have questions.
On your organization's profile, you may want to outline what a specific donation amount (i.e., $25) means for impact ($25 may support snacks for our participants). Others might use this area to simply suggest a donation amount. Please note that unless specifically stated by the organization, donation levels illustrate examples of what the donation means to that nonprofit.
Q. What about a tax receipt?
Donors automatically receive an emailed receipt from GiveGab after making their donation. The receipt includes everything needed for tax purposes.
Q. Is my administrator information and the information shared by donors safe and secure?
Our technology partner Bonterra has conducted many giving days for community foundations and is the recognized technology leader for fundraising initiatives of this type. Both credit card and ACH (automated clearing house) transactions are secure, backed by a PCI Level 1 secure service provider certification.
Q. Can donors be anonymous?
Givers who wish to remain anonymous can specify that their name not be seen on the Great Community Give website. However, the nonprofit organization will receive anonymous donors’ names and addresses. We ask all nonprofit organizations to respect their desire for anonymity (by requesting that anonymous donors not be added to nonprofit email or mailing databases).