Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to Georgia Focus. I'm John Clark on the Georgia
News Network. Georgia Gibbs Day is Tuesday is similar the
third led by Georgia Center for Nonprofits. Georgia Gives on
Giving Tuesday is a giving movement that rallies Georgians to
support important local causes with their money, volunteer time, and
social networks. Informs and encourages people to learn more about
(00:33):
the work and the worth of our states nonprofits. Today
we're going to talk about Georgia Gibbs with Karen Beaver,
CEO and President of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and
Leah Rothfis with Girls on the Run. Well, Karen, is
that time of year again?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
It is that time of year, the time of generosity
and giving.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That's right. A couple of months ago, it seems like bam,
all of a sudden, it's another year. Here you are.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
That's the truth. A little bit older and wiser, right,
Russians potions and a hair color, as I want to say,
there you.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Go, it's Georgia Gives Tuesday, December.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
That's right. We are gearing up for that great flash
mob of giving and generosity across Georgia December third.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We have Leah Rawfer in here from Girls on the Run.
Lea would glad to have you.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So Girls on the Run is gonna be participating this
year in Georgia Gives Day. What do you expect that
of Georgia Gives Say?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
We always participate in Georgia Gives Day because it's such
a great opportunity to highlight our organization in front of
folks who may not be familiar with us, and just
again drive more folks to awareness and giving on this
important day of giving. So yeah, we're hoping to meet
(01:54):
new people, have new people, learn about us, and drive
some donations to support our work.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yes, you got everything done? Your page is, you're ready,
everything's ready to go. You got everything ready to go?
Just for money?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Right?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Well, we feel like we have everything ready to go
and then we look at and want to add and
there's always photos and stories and things that we can do.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
But yeah, we're getting and ready for end of year.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Well, tell us about Girls on the Run. What do
they do?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (02:23):
So, Girls on the Run we are a physical activity
based positive youth development program.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So to normal folks.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
We work with adolescent girls third through eighth grade. It's
a really critical time for girls as we're getting through
puberty and finding our identity and learning about friendships and taking.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Care of ourselves.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
So we focus on this age and we incorporate physical
activity running and walking into social emotion and mental health lessons,
So learning about our emotions, learning about being a good friend,
standing up for ourselves, and really just having fun outdoors
(03:11):
while we're running. So we're a twelve week program and
girls are meeting after school at their school primarily. We
also have a few community sites and then at the
end of the program all of the kids come together
and participate in a five k event.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Oh great.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
It's a very important lesson on goal setting, accomplishment. I
can do hard things. So it's really again about the
holistic health, both mental, emotional and physical.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Right now, where are you in the process?
Speaker 4 (03:51):
We have one month to go, so the Girls on
the Run five k is actually the week of Georgia
Gives Day, December seventh, so it is Yeah, it's coming
up quickly.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Can people give to that too?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah? Or come out and run and walk in cheer.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
We'll be at Piedmont Park this year, which is really
exciting and you know, just in the center of it
all and we love to have folks out run and
cheering supporting.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
How many groups do you have available? Like are there
at certain places like for syth or PG City, wherever
you have? Yeah, where are they available?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
This season?
Speaker 4 (04:30):
We're in eleven counties, so yeah, we started just in
metro Atlanta and expanded recently North Georgia. We're in Athens,
we're South counties, sort of building out the web outside
of Atlanta. And we have seventy eight schools participating this season.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
That's that's a lot. Yeah, wow, it's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Eleven hundred kids in the program.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Eleven hundred, Oh my gosh, eleven hundred and you go,
do you go to all these schools and areas that
they are that they're in?
Speaker 4 (05:06):
You go? I mean, if I could visit every school,
I would. We're all talking about the traffic, but yeah,
we love to visit our teams, make sure that the
kids are learning, supporting our volunteer coaches. They're really critical
component of our program. But it'd be be great to visit.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
All and you do physical therapy kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah, we focus on physical activity in a non competitive way,
and so kids who are very sporty might you know,
catch on really easily, but we want to make sure
it's not competitive. That's one of the main reasons that
girls in particular drop out of sports at a young age,
so regardless of physical ability, regardless of fitness, really making
(05:55):
this an easy thing to get into. We joke that
we kind of trick them at first that you're having fun,
you're with your friends, You're doing these lessons.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And oh, I'm moving my body.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Oh, next thing, you know, I'm running laps.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And oh, next thing, you.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Know, I completed my first five K. So yeah, kids
are drawn.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Some kids are really drawn to the friendships and the
talking part of the program. Others are really drawn to
the physical activity. So we try to meet them where
they are.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Do you have people that come back to you who've
been with you before and they say that was a
great great I gonna come and give back to it.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Yeah, you know, this year we the season alone, we
have over four hundred volunteer coaches because it really takes them,
you know, to create the magic that is the program.
Fourteen of our coaches, our program alumni.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Oh, so it really.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Speaks to the impact that we had during that critical
age of these kids that they want to come back
and support us and lead teams.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's good. So Georgia Gives Day is your Day. It
is a real big time Yeah. Really, I guess that
the I guess the the whole all of Georgia Gives Day, Karen.
It just kind of you know, it teaches people to
give to a nonprofit nonprofit. Yeah, and uh, it really
(07:29):
launches these nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It really does. I mean, I think what we're trying
to do is show people that no matter where you live,
if it's a small rural county or a big urban center,
there are causes right in your backyard, right in your
local area, in your school, that serve a need in
the community or provide a great quality of life for you.
(07:53):
I love the fact that these girls are finding those
connecting points at a time in their life where those
types of strong relationships are so important, and that there
are adults that are really valuing you know, physical activity
and the ways that girls can empower themselves right beyond
(08:17):
kind of what we think of as normal girl activities.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
So I think that's wonderful and it really just goes
to show you that, I mean, eleven hundred kids in
seventy eight schools. You have a cause that you care about,
whether it's physical activity or running or girls, or you know,
homeless pets or homeless people or you know, the environment.
(08:41):
Whatever it is that you know checks that box for you.
You can find a cause that you care about, and
Georgia gives give. It is an easy way to both
connect with that cause, give a little bit of your time,
your talent, but also your treasure. And that's what we're
looking for this year is we understand that you know,
(09:05):
there are a lot of people that have given to
elections and it's that holiday time of year. But if
we can just carve out things that we know are
going to make our own lives better because they are
enriching our communities and enriching our own lives. Just carve
out a little bit, save a little bit, and you
know we've got what Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and then
(09:27):
it's Giving Tuesday. Georgia gives on Giving Tuesday, on December third,
Just carve a little bit out, find a cause you
care about, and give a little or a lot to
that cause. On December third, Georgia Gives on giving tea.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yes, they can go to the website you have. Can
you tell you about that where?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yes, we have a website called GA Gives. That's GA
like Georgia gagives dot org and all of these great
causes like Girls on their Run or the Atlantic Humane Society,
all of the things that you know are in your
community are listed and it's very simple. It looks like
Facebook pages for all of these folks, and they can
(10:06):
tell you what they're trying to raise money for and
within one click you can give straight to that charity.
There's no middleman, there's no cost for this. It is
a labor of love for all of us and you
can make a difference and a cause that makes a
difference to you.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
I imagine a lot of people go there, you know,
maybe you have Girls on the Run for example. You
have somebody goes there and they go they give whatever
and put a code in and it comes up and
they go, Wow, I don't know this organization existed. I
want to sign up and volunteer. You probably have that.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Yeah, we have definitely met new people or people have
learned about us through participating in Georgia Gibbs day just
because our profile people are looking for new causes that
they want to support. Yeah, so it's a really great
opportunity for nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
And you get their money, and it's a great opportunity
for people to learn more about what's in their backyard. Right,
So easy to do. You can just put in a keyword,
as you said, dog Run Girl, and it will pull
back all the causes that meet that. You can also
put in your zip code and it'll pull back all
(11:15):
the causes, so you can you know, makes it pretty easy.
And as we said, you know, just GA gifts dot org.
Put in that keyword or put in the organization like
Girls on their Run that you might want to give to,
and within a click you can make a difference.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I think it's great because I like, I love, you know,
nonprofit organizations and organizations like this because without them, a
lot of stuff doesn't get done. It makes somebody don't
have somebody already have something to fix this, and and
they don't. And but then you can't have a business
set up to fix that. But the person who can
(11:56):
fix that does it and starts small grows nonprofit.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Right, It just it brings your community together and I
think spreads a lot of joy and happiness because at
the same time, when you're getting involved in a cause
like Girls on the Run or something else that you
believe in in your community food bank, you're meeting other people.
You're meeting new people, and I know there's so many
(12:22):
people out there that are just longing for connection and
friendships and new ways to have, you know, a new hobby.
This is a great way to do that and one
of the biggest things that you can do, I think
for this time of year, we're talking about giving your dollars,
which let me just say is very important, but also
(12:44):
just sharing your experience on social media as a volunteer
as you know somebody who participates maybe in a five
k benefitting Just share your experience and bring in other
people into that experience. Connect with your community around these things,
and spread the word.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Center for Georgia Center for Nonprofits that you have that
you head up. You also help organizations become real, thriving, breathing,
living organizations that are really good. Talk about some of
the things that you do.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, our mission, We believe that thriving communities require strong nonprofits,
and so our whole job, our whole reason for being
is to help nonprofits succeed through better management, leadership, and governance.
Georgia Gibbs on Giving Tuesday is one of those initiatives
that we created and we've run for years and years
(13:39):
and raised now closing in on two hundred million dollars
that have been sent out to nonprofits from just hundreds
of thousands of donors. But you think about it, to
do a cause, you need to have a passion, but
you also need to have a plan, you need to
have a strategy, you need to have a little bit
of money, a little bit of leadership, some volunteers, and
(14:01):
so all of those things require skills, and so we
teach those skills. We do consulting for those skills. We
provide a lot of free resources for organizations just to
help them do what they do better. And the whole
objective is to make a bigger impact on whatever their
mission is. And so we really believe strong organizations create
(14:25):
stronger impact.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, because you think about somebody comes to and they
got this great idea, they don't know how to do it.
I don't know what to do. What to do? A
place that can tell you what to do, you can.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Tell we can tell them some of the things to do.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Some of the things, well, that's right, we can't the
most important.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, but you know, like I said, this is an effort,
you know, some leadership of strategies, some resources. This Georgia
Gibs Day is all about the resources, all about you
really galvanizing our community. Who is incredible. Georgians are so
oh generous and they care about their these causes. They
(15:04):
care about their communities to just step up. It as
a catalyst for that, and we have lots of incentive
funds for that. You can help your favorite organization can
compete for Leaderboard prizes or what we call power hours
where they can they get the most donors in an hour,
they can win you know, maybe a few more thousand
(15:26):
dollars for their cause. And so it's a way for
you to spread that and sort of help this or
help girls on the run when this power hour, help
you know the food bank, when this you know Rby's
Hunger Power Hour. So you know, there's lots of fun,
engaging ways that you can be participate. But you can
(15:48):
also help your kids participate in that and you know,
teach them about giving and and maybe use a little
bit of their allowance to find a cause and support it.
You can send messages on this like I'm doing this
in honor of my uncle.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So there's lots of ways to participate, and as I said,
one great way to participate is of course giving, but
also just sharing. Share out what you do and the
causes you care about. Make some noise you can give. Now,
that's a question that's often asked. You know, do I
(16:28):
have to wait till December third to give? No, you
actually don't. You can go right now to GA gives
dot org. You can find organizations like Girls on the
Run and you can you can make a donation and
that could be five dollars, that could be five hundred dollars.
It's up to you. But you know it is open
(16:50):
right now forgiving, and you can help organizations win some
prizes if.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
You do so good good. So you can go on
there now GA Gives. Just going there now, right now, today, right.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Now, everybody's going to be staring at their television trying
to figure out the outcome of this selection. So I think,
you know, just make yourself busy, go in there and
do something great, be pro nonprofit.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Right, that's right? Do that, Girls on the Run. What
are you going to be doing in Georgia Gives Day?
You're gonna be kind of nervous.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
I think it's all about the sharing the social media,
getting our board engaged, sort of bragging about their service
and getting other people involved in giving.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
It is, you know, part of our end of year
campaign as most nonprofits are really trying to leverage November
December to get those individual gifts in and so it
will be We're already talking about it and we'll keep
talking about it until December third.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Now you have a website too, so give that out.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
It's Girls on the Run ga dot org Ye.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
You got it. You should do should going there anyway
if you want to help them out and do anything,
or if you want to participate.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
In Girls Yeah, we we love our coach volunteers. As
I keep saying donors. Of course, there's other way to
volunteer and look into hanging out with us at the
five K.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Now you need volunteers because without the volunteers, that that's
another one thing. These nonprofits. Without people volunteering for these
they couldn't couldn't last. I'm a member of some I'm
a member of some nonprofits when we didn't. If we
didn't have volunteers, we couldn't we couldn't work, we couldn't
do anything. But volunteers are it right?
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, they're really again who bring the program to life
at all of our schools, really dedicated folks who are
spending extra time with kids, and we couldn't do without them.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, Karen, that that's true. I guess for all of
these non profits you work with, volunteers is really big
for them.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
It really is, you know, if you think about it.
We have volunteer boards, yeah, and set the strategy and
they help solve problems with the organization and support the staff. Uh.
There are volunteers that do the things that you know,
Girls on the Run does, uh, at the schools with
(19:16):
the with the actual girls. There are volunteers, for example,
at food pantries that maybe help load food onto the
shelves so that you know, people in need can find
what they need right or bag it up. There are
so many opportunities, like I said, to give your time,
your talent, and your treasure, and volunteerism sometimes is about running,
(19:41):
and it's sometimes about loading you know, cans onto a shelf,
but sometimes it's about maybe you're a great database uh manager,
or maybe you're uh, you know, a wonderful film editor
or something like that. There are more opportunities than you
can imagine, and it it's a great way to meet people,
really connect.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
It really is. It's just without these nonprofits. I think
without them, I mean so much, we couldn't do so
much stuff, so much stuff wouldn't do. There's not a
company that does all these and these non profits do
this stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
It's true. I always like to say, you live your
life and nonprofits. You may not know it, but you
might send your child to a nonprofit daycare. You might
have adopted your dog member of your family a from
a nonprofit shelter. You could be walking in a park
supported by a nonprofit or built by a nonprofit. You know. Weirdly,
(20:41):
nonprofits actually created the dotted lines that go down the road.
They created the concept of hospice. So you know, a
lot of our hospitals, the majority of the hospitals in
Georgia are actually nonprofits, and so we depend on them
for our quality of life. But also and so they
make a big economic impact. If you think about all
(21:04):
the people that are employed by a hospital or university
or you know, like a daycare center of that kind
of thing. So I think they are definitely net contributors
to the community and certainly we so appreciate and if
people out there, I want you to hear this, we
thank you and appreciate you for all you do to
(21:26):
support the sector. We do depend on volunteers, but also resources,
tangible resources, dollars and goods and services to make this
thing happen. And it just takes a huge collective effort.
And I think that's the magic of the sector. It
really is our magic. It's everybody coming together with love
(21:50):
for their community and their fellow you know, community members.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, because you know, Leah, without being a nonprofit, you
wouldn't exist your company, I mean, your nonprofit wo't.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Is right, well, I think, I mean, we have benefited
greatly from Georgia Center for Nonprofits and the way that
they're elevating the sector because a lot of people don't
realize we're running businesses. We've learned about accounting and our
governance and marketing and fundraising you know, pretty much sales
(22:27):
if you align the business with corporations. So this is
serious work, it's important work, and we need good governance
and good operations in order to get it done. So
we've really benefited from from the resources that they've provided.
And as Karen keeps saying, philanthropic dollars are also also
(22:52):
helping run the business. So it definitely takes the donor
community to help us reach more kids, make a better impact.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I always like to say, you give, we give, and
everybody gets.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Everybody gets, everybody gets. Karen, do you know how many
nonprofits you have in Georgia that are just so there are?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
There are so many nonprofits, but when you file a
nine to ninety, it means you're making over fifty thousand
dollars a year. You're bringing in that level of revenue,
and so they are about eight thousand of those. There
are roughly about thirty thousand of all the if you
think about the booster clubs and the band you know,
(23:35):
and the keep a very you know, keep Georgia beautiful
and all those kinds of things, there's lots and lots
of little tiny efforts that might you know, do their
job with you know, twenty five thousand or ten thousand
or whatever. But when we start talking about you know,
making enough revenue to fall a tax return, there are
about eight thousand of them.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
That's amazing. It's amazing. So let's give it all out again.
And Ley give me your website again. I hope people
to go to you and where to look for you
on the on g Gibbs.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Yes, definitely so Girls on Run Georgia and you can
look us up, look up our nice profile on the
Georgia Gibbs website or visit our website directly at Girls
on the Run GA dot org and you.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Can go there now. You don't have to just go
there right now.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Folks, visit there now?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, right, you don't have to wait till Tuesday. But
what if don't let Tuesday go by? Take advantage of
give today and give Tuesday too. So yeah, and Karen,
where should we go with you? Find it?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Go to GA Gibbs dot org and just insert a
keyword or the organization you want to support or a
zip code, find that cause that you care about, and
within a couple of clicks you can do your thing
for community.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
It's right and for Georgia Center for Mindprofits. Where should
you go?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
GCN dot org, DC dot org.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Thank you both so much for being here today, and
good luck, good luck. I think You'll be fine.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
We're running. We're running for December third, that's right. Thank
you everybody.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
That's Karen Beaver from Georgia Center for Nonprofits and Leah
Rothas from Girls on the Run. Don't Forget Georgia Gives
gagibs dot org. Go there now and donate. If you
have Christmas your comments about today's program, you can email
me John Clark at Georgiannewsnetwork dot com. Thank you for listening.
I'll talk to you next week on your local radio
(25:32):
station on Georgia Focus.
Welcome to Georgia Focus. I'm John Clark on the Georgia
News Network. Georgia Gibbs Day is Tuesday is similar the
third led by Georgia Center for Nonprofits. Georgia Gives on
Giving Tuesday is a giving movement that rallies Georgians to
support important local causes with their money, volunteer time, and
social networks. Informs and encourages people to learn more about
(00:33):
the work and the worth of our states nonprofits. Today
we're going to talk about Georgia Gibbs with Karen Beaver,
CEO and President of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and
Leah Rothfis with Girls on the Run. Well, Karen, is
that time of year again?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
It is that time of year, the time of generosity
and giving.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That's right. A couple of months ago, it seems like bam,
all of a sudden, it's another year. Here you are.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
That's the truth. A little bit older and wiser, right,
Russians potions and a hair color, as I want to say,
there you.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Go, it's Georgia Gives Tuesday, December.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
That's right. We are gearing up for that great flash
mob of giving and generosity across Georgia December third.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We have Leah Rawfer in here from Girls on the Run.
Lea would glad to have you.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So Girls on the Run is gonna be participating this
year in Georgia Gives Day. What do you expect that
of Georgia Gives Say?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
We always participate in Georgia Gives Day because it's such
a great opportunity to highlight our organization in front of
folks who may not be familiar with us, and just
again drive more folks to awareness and giving on this
important day of giving. So yeah, we're hoping to meet
(01:54):
new people, have new people, learn about us, and drive
some donations to support our work.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yes, you got everything done? Your page is, you're ready,
everything's ready to go. You got everything ready to go?
Just for money?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Right?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Well, we feel like we have everything ready to go
and then we look at and want to add and
there's always photos and stories and things that we can do.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
But yeah, we're getting and ready for end of year.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Well, tell us about Girls on the Run. What do
they do?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (02:23):
So, Girls on the Run we are a physical activity
based positive youth development program.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So to normal folks.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
We work with adolescent girls third through eighth grade. It's
a really critical time for girls as we're getting through
puberty and finding our identity and learning about friendships and taking.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Care of ourselves.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
So we focus on this age and we incorporate physical
activity running and walking into social emotion and mental health lessons,
So learning about our emotions, learning about being a good friend,
standing up for ourselves, and really just having fun outdoors
(03:11):
while we're running. So we're a twelve week program and
girls are meeting after school at their school primarily. We
also have a few community sites and then at the
end of the program all of the kids come together
and participate in a five k event.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Oh great.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
It's a very important lesson on goal setting, accomplishment. I
can do hard things. So it's really again about the
holistic health, both mental, emotional and physical.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Right now, where are you in the process?
Speaker 4 (03:51):
We have one month to go, so the Girls on
the Run five k is actually the week of Georgia
Gives Day, December seventh, so it is Yeah, it's coming
up quickly.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Can people give to that too?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah? Or come out and run and walk in cheer.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
We'll be at Piedmont Park this year, which is really
exciting and you know, just in the center of it
all and we love to have folks out run and
cheering supporting.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
How many groups do you have available? Like are there
at certain places like for syth or PG City, wherever
you have? Yeah, where are they available?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
This season?
Speaker 4 (04:30):
We're in eleven counties, so yeah, we started just in
metro Atlanta and expanded recently North Georgia. We're in Athens,
we're South counties, sort of building out the web outside
of Atlanta. And we have seventy eight schools participating this season.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
That's that's a lot. Yeah, wow, it's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Eleven hundred kids in the program.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Eleven hundred, Oh my gosh, eleven hundred and you go,
do you go to all these schools and areas that
they are that they're in?
Speaker 4 (05:06):
You go? I mean, if I could visit every school,
I would. We're all talking about the traffic, but yeah,
we love to visit our teams, make sure that the
kids are learning, supporting our volunteer coaches. They're really critical
component of our program. But it'd be be great to visit.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
All and you do physical therapy kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah, we focus on physical activity in a non competitive way,
and so kids who are very sporty might you know,
catch on really easily, but we want to make sure
it's not competitive. That's one of the main reasons that
girls in particular drop out of sports at a young age,
so regardless of physical ability, regardless of fitness, really making
(05:55):
this an easy thing to get into. We joke that
we kind of trick them at first that you're having fun,
you're with your friends, You're doing these lessons.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And oh, I'm moving my body.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Oh, next thing, you know, I'm running laps.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And oh, next thing, you.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Know, I completed my first five K. So yeah, kids
are drawn.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Some kids are really drawn to the friendships and the
talking part of the program. Others are really drawn to
the physical activity. So we try to meet them where
they are.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Do you have people that come back to you who've
been with you before and they say that was a
great great I gonna come and give back to it.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Yeah, you know, this year we the season alone, we
have over four hundred volunteer coaches because it really takes them,
you know, to create the magic that is the program.
Fourteen of our coaches, our program alumni.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Oh, so it really.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Speaks to the impact that we had during that critical
age of these kids that they want to come back
and support us and lead teams.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's good. So Georgia Gives Day is your Day. It
is a real big time Yeah. Really, I guess that
the I guess the the whole all of Georgia Gives Day, Karen.
It just kind of you know, it teaches people to
give to a nonprofit nonprofit. Yeah, and uh, it really
(07:29):
launches these nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It really does. I mean, I think what we're trying
to do is show people that no matter where you live,
if it's a small rural county or a big urban center,
there are causes right in your backyard, right in your
local area, in your school, that serve a need in
the community or provide a great quality of life for you.
(07:53):
I love the fact that these girls are finding those
connecting points at a time in their life where those
types of strong relationships are so important, and that there
are adults that are really valuing you know, physical activity
and the ways that girls can empower themselves right beyond
(08:17):
kind of what we think of as normal girl activities.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
So I think that's wonderful and it really just goes
to show you that, I mean, eleven hundred kids in
seventy eight schools. You have a cause that you care about,
whether it's physical activity or running or girls, or you know,
homeless pets or homeless people or you know, the environment.
(08:41):
Whatever it is that you know checks that box for you.
You can find a cause that you care about, and
Georgia gives give. It is an easy way to both
connect with that cause, give a little bit of your time,
your talent, but also your treasure. And that's what we're
looking for this year is we understand that you know,
(09:05):
there are a lot of people that have given to
elections and it's that holiday time of year. But if
we can just carve out things that we know are
going to make our own lives better because they are
enriching our communities and enriching our own lives. Just carve
out a little bit, save a little bit, and you
know we've got what Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and then
(09:27):
it's Giving Tuesday. Georgia gives on Giving Tuesday, on December third,
Just carve a little bit out, find a cause you
care about, and give a little or a lot to
that cause. On December third, Georgia Gives on giving tea.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yes, they can go to the website you have. Can
you tell you about that where?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yes, we have a website called GA Gives. That's GA
like Georgia gagives dot org and all of these great
causes like Girls on their Run or the Atlantic Humane Society,
all of the things that you know are in your
community are listed and it's very simple. It looks like
Facebook pages for all of these folks, and they can
(10:06):
tell you what they're trying to raise money for and
within one click you can give straight to that charity.
There's no middleman, there's no cost for this. It is
a labor of love for all of us and you
can make a difference and a cause that makes a
difference to you.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
I imagine a lot of people go there, you know,
maybe you have Girls on the Run for example. You
have somebody goes there and they go they give whatever
and put a code in and it comes up and
they go, Wow, I don't know this organization existed. I
want to sign up and volunteer. You probably have that.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Yeah, we have definitely met new people or people have
learned about us through participating in Georgia Gibbs day just
because our profile people are looking for new causes that
they want to support. Yeah, so it's a really great
opportunity for nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
And you get their money, and it's a great opportunity
for people to learn more about what's in their backyard. Right,
So easy to do. You can just put in a keyword,
as you said, dog Run Girl, and it will pull
back all the causes that meet that. You can also
put in your zip code and it'll pull back all
(11:15):
the causes, so you can you know, makes it pretty easy.
And as we said, you know, just GA gifts dot org.
Put in that keyword or put in the organization like
Girls on their Run that you might want to give to,
and within a click you can make a difference.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I think it's great because I like, I love, you know,
nonprofit organizations and organizations like this because without them, a
lot of stuff doesn't get done. It makes somebody don't
have somebody already have something to fix this, and and
they don't. And but then you can't have a business
set up to fix that. But the person who can
(11:56):
fix that does it and starts small grows nonprofit.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Right, It just it brings your community together and I
think spreads a lot of joy and happiness because at
the same time, when you're getting involved in a cause
like Girls on the Run or something else that you
believe in in your community food bank, you're meeting other people.
You're meeting new people, and I know there's so many
(12:22):
people out there that are just longing for connection and
friendships and new ways to have, you know, a new hobby.
This is a great way to do that and one
of the biggest things that you can do, I think
for this time of year, we're talking about giving your dollars,
which let me just say is very important, but also
(12:44):
just sharing your experience on social media as a volunteer
as you know somebody who participates maybe in a five
k benefitting Just share your experience and bring in other
people into that experience. Connect with your community around these things,
and spread the word.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Center for Georgia Center for Nonprofits that you have that
you head up. You also help organizations become real, thriving, breathing,
living organizations that are really good. Talk about some of
the things that you do.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, our mission, We believe that thriving communities require strong nonprofits,
and so our whole job, our whole reason for being
is to help nonprofits succeed through better management, leadership, and governance.
Georgia Gibbs on Giving Tuesday is one of those initiatives
that we created and we've run for years and years
(13:39):
and raised now closing in on two hundred million dollars
that have been sent out to nonprofits from just hundreds
of thousands of donors. But you think about it, to
do a cause, you need to have a passion, but
you also need to have a plan, you need to
have a strategy, you need to have a little bit
of money, a little bit of leadership, some volunteers, and
(14:01):
so all of those things require skills, and so we
teach those skills. We do consulting for those skills. We
provide a lot of free resources for organizations just to
help them do what they do better. And the whole
objective is to make a bigger impact on whatever their
mission is. And so we really believe strong organizations create
(14:25):
stronger impact.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, because you think about somebody comes to and they
got this great idea, they don't know how to do it.
I don't know what to do. What to do? A
place that can tell you what to do, you can.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Tell we can tell them some of the things to do.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Some of the things, well, that's right, we can't the
most important.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, but you know, like I said, this is an effort,
you know, some leadership of strategies, some resources. This Georgia
Gibs Day is all about the resources, all about you
really galvanizing our community. Who is incredible. Georgians are so
oh generous and they care about their these causes. They
(15:04):
care about their communities to just step up. It as
a catalyst for that, and we have lots of incentive
funds for that. You can help your favorite organization can
compete for Leaderboard prizes or what we call power hours
where they can they get the most donors in an hour,
they can win you know, maybe a few more thousand
(15:26):
dollars for their cause. And so it's a way for
you to spread that and sort of help this or
help girls on the run when this power hour, help
you know the food bank, when this you know Rby's
Hunger Power Hour. So you know, there's lots of fun,
engaging ways that you can be participate. But you can
(15:48):
also help your kids participate in that and you know,
teach them about giving and and maybe use a little
bit of their allowance to find a cause and support it.
You can send messages on this like I'm doing this
in honor of my uncle.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So there's lots of ways to participate, and as I said,
one great way to participate is of course giving, but
also just sharing. Share out what you do and the
causes you care about. Make some noise you can give. Now,
that's a question that's often asked. You know, do I
(16:28):
have to wait till December third to give? No, you
actually don't. You can go right now to GA gives
dot org. You can find organizations like Girls on the
Run and you can you can make a donation and
that could be five dollars, that could be five hundred dollars.
It's up to you. But you know it is open
(16:50):
right now forgiving, and you can help organizations win some
prizes if.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
You do so good good. So you can go on
there now GA Gives. Just going there now, right now, today, right.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Now, everybody's going to be staring at their television trying
to figure out the outcome of this selection. So I think,
you know, just make yourself busy, go in there and
do something great, be pro nonprofit.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Right, that's right? Do that, Girls on the Run. What
are you going to be doing in Georgia Gives Day?
You're gonna be kind of nervous.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
I think it's all about the sharing the social media,
getting our board engaged, sort of bragging about their service
and getting other people involved in giving.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
It is, you know, part of our end of year
campaign as most nonprofits are really trying to leverage November
December to get those individual gifts in and so it
will be We're already talking about it and we'll keep
talking about it until December third.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Now you have a website too, so give that out.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
It's Girls on the Run ga dot org Ye.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
You got it. You should do should going there anyway
if you want to help them out and do anything,
or if you want to participate.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
In Girls Yeah, we we love our coach volunteers. As
I keep saying donors. Of course, there's other way to
volunteer and look into hanging out with us at the
five K.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Now you need volunteers because without the volunteers, that that's
another one thing. These nonprofits. Without people volunteering for these
they couldn't couldn't last. I'm a member of some I'm
a member of some nonprofits when we didn't. If we
didn't have volunteers, we couldn't we couldn't work, we couldn't
do anything. But volunteers are it right?
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, they're really again who bring the program to life
at all of our schools, really dedicated folks who are
spending extra time with kids, and we couldn't do without them.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, Karen, that that's true. I guess for all of
these non profits you work with, volunteers is really big
for them.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
It really is, you know, if you think about it.
We have volunteer boards, yeah, and set the strategy and
they help solve problems with the organization and support the staff. Uh.
There are volunteers that do the things that you know,
Girls on the Run does, uh, at the schools with
(19:16):
the with the actual girls. There are volunteers, for example,
at food pantries that maybe help load food onto the
shelves so that you know, people in need can find
what they need right or bag it up. There are
so many opportunities, like I said, to give your time,
your talent, and your treasure, and volunteerism sometimes is about running,
(19:41):
and it's sometimes about loading you know, cans onto a shelf,
but sometimes it's about maybe you're a great database uh manager,
or maybe you're uh, you know, a wonderful film editor
or something like that. There are more opportunities than you
can imagine, and it it's a great way to meet people,
really connect.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
It really is. It's just without these nonprofits. I think
without them, I mean so much, we couldn't do so
much stuff, so much stuff wouldn't do. There's not a
company that does all these and these non profits do
this stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
It's true. I always like to say, you live your
life and nonprofits. You may not know it, but you
might send your child to a nonprofit daycare. You might
have adopted your dog member of your family a from
a nonprofit shelter. You could be walking in a park
supported by a nonprofit or built by a nonprofit. You know. Weirdly,
(20:41):
nonprofits actually created the dotted lines that go down the road.
They created the concept of hospice. So you know, a
lot of our hospitals, the majority of the hospitals in
Georgia are actually nonprofits, and so we depend on them
for our quality of life. But also and so they
make a big economic impact. If you think about all
(21:04):
the people that are employed by a hospital or university
or you know, like a daycare center of that kind
of thing. So I think they are definitely net contributors
to the community and certainly we so appreciate and if
people out there, I want you to hear this, we
thank you and appreciate you for all you do to
(21:26):
support the sector. We do depend on volunteers, but also resources,
tangible resources, dollars and goods and services to make this
thing happen. And it just takes a huge collective effort.
And I think that's the magic of the sector. It
really is our magic. It's everybody coming together with love
(21:50):
for their community and their fellow you know, community members.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, because you know, Leah, without being a nonprofit, you
wouldn't exist your company, I mean, your nonprofit wo't.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Is right, well, I think, I mean, we have benefited
greatly from Georgia Center for Nonprofits and the way that
they're elevating the sector because a lot of people don't
realize we're running businesses. We've learned about accounting and our
governance and marketing and fundraising you know, pretty much sales
(22:27):
if you align the business with corporations. So this is
serious work, it's important work, and we need good governance
and good operations in order to get it done. So
we've really benefited from from the resources that they've provided.
And as Karen keeps saying, philanthropic dollars are also also
(22:52):
helping run the business. So it definitely takes the donor
community to help us reach more kids, make a better impact.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I always like to say, you give, we give, and
everybody gets.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Everybody gets, everybody gets. Karen, do you know how many
nonprofits you have in Georgia that are just so there are?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
There are so many nonprofits, but when you file a
nine to ninety, it means you're making over fifty thousand
dollars a year. You're bringing in that level of revenue,
and so they are about eight thousand of those. There
are roughly about thirty thousand of all the if you
think about the booster clubs and the band you know,
(23:35):
and the keep a very you know, keep Georgia beautiful
and all those kinds of things, there's lots and lots
of little tiny efforts that might you know, do their
job with you know, twenty five thousand or ten thousand
or whatever. But when we start talking about you know,
making enough revenue to fall a tax return, there are
about eight thousand of them.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
That's amazing. It's amazing. So let's give it all out again.
And Ley give me your website again. I hope people
to go to you and where to look for you
on the on g Gibbs.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Yes, definitely so Girls on Run Georgia and you can
look us up, look up our nice profile on the
Georgia Gibbs website or visit our website directly at Girls
on the Run GA dot org and you.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Can go there now. You don't have to just go
there right now.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Folks, visit there now?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, right, you don't have to wait till Tuesday. But
what if don't let Tuesday go by? Take advantage of
give today and give Tuesday too. So yeah, and Karen,
where should we go with you? Find it?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Go to GA Gibbs dot org and just insert a
keyword or the organization you want to support or a
zip code, find that cause that you care about, and
within a couple of clicks you can do your thing
for community.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
It's right and for Georgia Center for Mindprofits. Where should
you go?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
GCN dot org, DC dot org.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Thank you both so much for being here today, and
good luck, good luck. I think You'll be fine.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
We're running. We're running for December third, that's right. Thank
you everybody.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
That's Karen Beaver from Georgia Center for Nonprofits and Leah
Rothas from Girls on the Run. Don't Forget Georgia Gives
gagibs dot org. Go there now and donate. If you
have Christmas your comments about today's program, you can email
me John Clark at Georgiannewsnetwork dot com. Thank you for listening.
I'll talk to you next week on your local radio
(25:32):
station on Georgia Focus.
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