Game On!

Remember this?

“Hey, your chocolate is in my peanut butter!”
“Well, your peanut butter is in my chocolate!”
“Yummmmmmm………”

That’s how I am feeling this month with the launch of the Chicks Challenge Giving Game.

The game is simple – Every month, Chicks with Checks members nominate their favorite nonprofits by creating a fill-in-the-blank information web page. That information page is added to the Chicks Challenge game page. We all send our friends, families, and supporters to the game page to “vote” for their favorites with their Donation Dollars.* The organization receiving the largest number of votes “wins” the membership donation plus their own voting Donation Dollars and any matching grants. All other nominees receive their own donation dollars. That’s it.

Nominate.
Vote.
Donate.
Repeat.

Think “Pepsi Refresh meets fundraising.” Every month.

This is exciting for so many reasons I hardly know where to begin. Perhaps starting with a little story might help.

The idea for Chicks with Checks began hatching five years ago due to some big changes in my life. The part of the story about surviving cancer and wanting to shift my business and my giving has been told many times and is on the Chicks with Checks website http://www.chickswithchecks.org so I’ll pick it up from there.

In the beginning, the idea was hazy at best and mostly in the form of questions. What if we had a social club that focused on giving instead of Bunco or Bridge? What if we pooled our money and found local nonprofits to support? At that point, I knew about investment pools and garden clubs, but had never heard of social networks or giving circles. Hint: When the cosmos taps you on the shoulder with a little idea that wants to Live Large, be prepared.

One evening, I met a dear friend at a local restaurant for a gal pals catch up. We chatted business for a bit, I shared the glimmer of this idea, and then we closed our day with a glass of wine. And that’s when Fate stepped in.

As two gentlemen walked past, one accidently knocked my Daytimer onto the floor. As he apologized profusely, he struck up conversation and when he heard what we were discussing, got all excited. I needed to meet his girlfriend. She was on her way to the restaurant. She was the Executive Directive of a nonprofit he was sure I’d never heard of and needed to. See what I mean?

A tall, beautiful blond woman walked in about then. He introduced us and we were off and running like two magpies. Suddenly, she stopped, looked me straight in the eye, and said, “So when are you going to start?” I looked right back and without skipping a beat asked, “You want to go first?”

We held the first gathering in my home with a few of my friends. The very next week, the phone rang. It was a nonprofit who wanted to know how they could become a beneficiary. Things were off and running and I was hanging on for dear life.

Calls started coming in from nonprofits around the country and so did calls from women wanting to start chapters. Only problem was the communities weren’t matching up and we were having to tell too many nonprofits they had to wait for a local chapter. There had to be a better way.

That better way is the Chicks Challenge Giving Game. Now any nonprofit can be a beneficiary without waiting for a local chapter. Now any member’s favorite nonprofits can be a beneficiary as often as they like no matter where they are located.

Once again, we needed someone willing to “Go First” and I am delighted to present Louie’s Kids, Courageous Kidz, and Piedmont Progressive Preschool as our first Chicks Challenge beneficiaries. How perfect to have kid-themed organizations for this holiday season launch!

I’ll be sharing more about each organization later this week. In the meantime, please visit http://www.razoo.com/p/holiday-04-chicks-challenge to learn more about them and about Chicks Challenge.

Turns out, taking Chicks with Checks virtual and viral is lot like combining chocolate and peanut butter – a combination so naturally delicious, you wonder why no one else had thought of it. It’s the perfect way to have even more fun raising friends and funds for our all-important local nonprofits. Come play with us!

Happy Giving!

* Though only members can nominate, anyone an vote.