Donations given on Colorado Gives Day Dec. 5, helped raise over $600,000 for Summit County organizations.

A fundraising event, put on by the Summit Foundation at the Outer Range Brewery, helped draw in nearly 3,000 donations for 81 local organizations. Local nonprofit leaders say that the annual push for charitable donations benefits them greatly as they acquire funds that help their day-to-day operations.

“It’s significant for us because they aren’t restricted funds, and so we can spend them on what we need,” Family and Intercultural Resource Center Executive Director Brianne Snow explained. 

Snow said these donations are key to nonprofit organizations right now, especially as demand for assistance soars in the community. The increased number of people requesting services from Family and Intercultural Resource Center caused the organization to face a $300,000 deficit in their budget, which Snow said was a major hit.

“We’ve had some major losses when it comes to trying to apply for state capital funding, like through the Department of Labor Affairs,” Snow said. “We’re just really trying to secure some of those big ticket grants.” 

Snow said that the organization just received word that a state grant they have held for years is no longer being offered. This grant was for $75,000 and had significant impacts on the nonprofit. 

She said that capital funding grants have changed because of priority shifts. It’s causing certain nonprofits to have less grant opportunities to apply to. She described a situation where those in charge of delegating grant funding have a limited amount of resources and many problems to address. 

“When you’re talking about pitting child abuse and neglect up with homelessness prevention, there’s no clear winner, so to speak,” Snow said. “You know, they have some really tough decisions to make.” 

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Building Hope is another nonprofit impacted by changes in grant opportunities and an increase need for the services they provide in the community. Executive Director Kellyn Ender also emphasized how important donations from Colorado Gives Day are to the organization. 

Ender said that in addition to Colorado Gives Day, the nonprofit also had success with their Hope Rising Campaign. 

“We raised over 40k in 40 days, which was our goal. and every year the community just shows up in amazing ways. We’re so proud to be a part of it,” Ender said. 

She said that similarly to the Family and Intercultural Resource Center, the nonprofit is also experiencing a pinch in funding and community donations help exponentially. 

“We have an increase in our scholarship demands,” Ender said.

She said despite high demand and tight funding, partners such as health care providers — especially a newly added provider, Vail Health — have stepped up to help make services more accessible. 

Both executive directors noted their organizations are heading into seasons where demand and need from the community increases. 

Snow noted even small donations have a big impact. 

“We can take somebody’s $20 donation and turn it into $200 right away,” Snow said. 

As the organizers head into their winter season they are gearing up for a collaborative project that will help both cut costs exponentially, the SolCenter. 

Both organizers will operate out of the SoCenter, which will be near Colorado Highway 9 and Coyne Valley Road in Breckenridge. They said having multiple services consolidated into one place is going to result in major financial savings. 

Snow noted that for her organization, early conservative estimates show this move will save the nonprofit over $200,000 each year. 

“It’s going to be pretty amazing for the clients that we serve. We have a lot of shared clients … and having the services in the same place will just eliminate so many barriers,” Enders said. 

Last spring the organizations found out that costs have risen 20% for the project, making the price tag $11.8 million. Despite this, both are optimistic for a fall 2025 opening and said funding has remained on track.

“We’re still just under $3 million away from raising all of the funds needed to secure the building and not have to fundraise anymore,” Snow said. “Right now, a lot of people are trying to step up and try to fulfill that need.”

The real estate group Slifer Smith & Frampton, through its charity arm, launched a fundraising campaign to help support the SolCenter. Donations for this specific campaign can be provided at TinyURL.com/4c42x268.

For a full list of nonprofits in Summit County accepting donations as part of Colorado Gives, visit ColoradoGives.org and search Summit County.