SPRINGFIELD CENTER – More than 90 Otsego County nonprofits will seek support Friday, Sept. 18, through Mohawk Valley Gives, a one-day online fundraiser that has become an important source of revenue for organizations providing food, education, health care, senior services, arts programming, and other community resources.
The Community Foundation of Otsego County is coordinating local participation in the regional giving day, working with the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties. Donations may be made from midnight to 9 p.m. Friday, with early giving already underway. Donors can browse participating organizations at www.givemv.org/info/otsego and direct their gifts to one or several nonprofits.
Jeff Katz, executive director of the Community Foundation of Otsego County, said the online platform can be especially valuable for smaller organizations with limited fundraising staff and budgets. For many participating groups, he said, Mohawk Valley Gives is their most significant fundraising opportunity of the entire year.
“For some of them – I would say almost for most of them – it’s the biggest fundraising of the year,” Katz said. He added, “For the food pantries, this is a very effective, almost cost-free way to raise money.”
Mohawk Valley Gives is in its fifth year regionally and its fourth year in Otsego County. Katz, the former mayor of Cooperstown, said the local partnership grew from his interest in making a successful Utica-based campaign available to organizations closer to home.
“The history of why it came to Otsego County is the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties in Utica, they started this five years ago. So, I watched the success of it. After the first year, I said, how can Otsego County nonprofits gain access to Mohawk Valley Gives? That’s a job for the Community Foundation.”
About 60 Otsego County nonprofits joined the local campaign in 2023. Participation remained near that level the following year, grew to more than 80 organizations in 2025, and this year has climbed above 90. From 2023 through 2025, Otsego County nonprofits received more than $830,000 through the fundraiser, according to Community Foundation of Otsego County records.
“The second year, we had about 60-ish nonprofits again sign up, and we saw donations go up about 10%. Last year, we saw a jump to over 80 nonprofits. And this year, a jump to over 90. I think total donations[last year] were about $330,000,” Katz said. “I would expect a decent increase in that this year because I can see online people get it now. It’s really gaining traction year-after-year.”
The secure fundraising platform gives each nonprofit a profile and individual web address to share through email, social media, and its own website. Donors may search by organization or cause, place multiple gifts in a single online cart, and complete one checkout. A live leaderboard allows visitors to follow fundraising progress during the event, while matching gifts and prizes can help organizations extend the value of each contribution.
“You can go check people out and say, ‘I want to give 25 bucks to Friends of Oneonta Theatre, and I want to give 25 bucks to Catskill Coral Society’ or whatever. And then you’ll check out at the end. It’s a very effective tool and it really is fun.”
Katz said the Community Foundation does not retain a share of donations. The fundraising host and credit card processor charge fees, though he said most donors choose to cover them.
“We’re not a middleman in this,” Katz explained. “The money from donations goes directly into the nonprofits’ bank accounts.”
The Community Foundation will also give $300 to each participating nonprofit and award prizes for achievements during the campaign, including attracting the most donors or the greatest number of new donors. The regional Mohawk Valley Gives website says participating organizations may raise unrestricted dollars, allowing them to use the money where it is needed most.
A new local campaign this year, Feed Otsego, is intended to address food insecurity across the county. Sponsor support provides a 4-to-1 match on donations, up to $10,000, meaning a $1 gift becomes $5. Money raised through Feed Otsego will be added to the Community Foundation’s fall award cycle and distributed through a competitive process to Otsego County food pantries and food programs.
Katz said the campaign gives nonprofits a way to reach beyond their established donor lists. Supporters can also create personal fundraisers and share them with friends, relatives, and colleagues, potentially introducing local organizations to people who had not previously contributed.
“That’s the key, is spreading it far beyond your usual donors,” Katz said. “Because your usual donors are going to give. You want to get [new] people.”
Founded in 2019, the Community Foundation of Otsego County connects donors with local causes, helps people establish charitable funds, and makes awards and grants to nonprofit organizations. It also provides participating groups with instruction on using the Mohawk Valley Gives platform and promotes the full Otsego County directory rather than selecting favored organizations.
For area residents, the giving day offers a single place to see the range of work being done across the county, from food programs and youth services to health care, music, and the arts. For nonprofits, each contribution can support immediate operations while helping build relationships with new donors. The result is an Otsego County-wide snapshot of local needs and of the many organizations working to meet them.
Donations will be accepted at givemv.org/info/otsego all-day Friday through 9 p.m. Information about Feed Otsego is available at givemv.org/campaigns/feed-otsego, and more information about the Community Foundation is available at cfotsego.org.
This article was originally published on AllOtsego.com
