Fremont Area Big Give — 24-hour fundraiser

Local fundraising days can sound small. But this one has turned into a real piece of civic infrastructure in Fremont and greater Dodge County. The Fremont Area Big Give opened Thursday, May 7, and for 24 hours people can give online to dozens of local nonprofits through a single campaign hub. The point is simple — move a lot of money, quickly, into organizations that usually spend the rest of the year piecing support together. ### What is this, exactly? The Fremont Area Big Give is a one-day online giving campaign led by the Fremont Area Community Foundation. Donors go to one site, pick from participating nonprofits, and make gifts that count during the event window. The campaign is built around unrestricted giving, which matters because flexible dollars are usually the hardest dollars for nonprofits to raise. ### When does the giving window run? The official 2026 event runs from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Central time on Thursday, May 7. There is also an early-giving period that began May 1, so donors did not have to wait until today to make their gifts. That setup helps groups line up momentum before the 24-hour sprint starts. ##78 participating nonprofits from the Fremont area. That gives the event a pretty broad footprint — not just one cause or one institution, but a mix of groups tied to housing, food security, youth programs, arts, parks, history, schools, and emergency services. In other words, this is less like a single fundraiser and more like a community-wide giving marketplace. ### Why is the 10th year a big deal? Because this is no longer an experiment. The foundation says the Big Give is now in its 10th year, and since 2017 it has brought in nearly $3.5 million through more than 17,000 gifts. Last year alone, the event raised more than $480,000. For a local giving day in one Nebraska region, that is real scale. The mechanics are intentionally easy. The minimum donation is $10, donors can support multiple organizations in one transaction, and the site accepts credit cards plus bank-account gifts. Check donations are also allowed if they are delivered or mailed by May 7 with the event noted. Basically, the organizers want as little friction as possible between “I should help” and “done.” ### What’s new this year? The headline extra is a Tenth Anniversary Endowment Prize. One participating nonprofit will receive a $10,000 endowment fund at the Fremont Area Community Foundation. That matters because an endowment is not just a one-day cash bump — it is meant to keep supporting the organization over time. There are also hourly and participation prizes funded by sponsors and partners. ### Why do nonprofits care about the prizes and matches? Because a giving day is part fundraising, part game design. Leaderboards, matching gifts, and timed prizes can push donors to act now instead of later. A small nonprofit that cannot outspend bigger groups on marketing can still catch a wave if supporters show up at the right time. That urgency is the whole trick. ### So what’s the bottom line? The Fremont Area Big Give is really a stress test of local generosity — one day, one platform, 78 nonprofits, and a lot of pressure to turn attention into usable cash. If the event performs anywhere near last year’s level, it will again send hundreds of thousands of dollars into organizations that do the unglamorous daily work of keeping the community running.