Frequently Asked Questions by Nonprofits

This page answers common questions from participating nonprofits. Our most common donor questions can be found on the Donor FAQ page at this link. If you can't find the answer to your question on this page, head to the Mightycause Support Center for more information.

The Basics

Mightycause partners with the CFNRV to host this online fundraising platform for the GiveLocalNRV giving day. Their team provides robust technical support for the site throughout the year and partners with the CFNRV team to offer informational webinars. 

All donation transactions on the givelocalnrv.org website are processed through Mightycause. Donors giving through this site will see that reflected on their credit/debit card statements as some version of the following: "MCF*GiveLocalNRV" or "Mightycause Foundation", or the name of the organization you gave to might be listed in the charge, such as "MCF*LiteracyNRV".

This year’s GiveLocalNRV Giving Day will be held from noon on Wednesday, June 24 to at noon on Thursday, June 25. Early giving for the event opened on June 1.

Visit givelocalnrv.org/login to enter your username and password. When you log into the platform, you’ll see your name in the upper right corner. A dropdown menu appears when you click your name. This allows you to access the nonprofits you manage and  different parts of your user profile. (Please note, anything listed below your name is a section within your personal user account, not the organization's profile page.)

On the left side of your screen is your dashboard. You can use the dashboard to toggle between all of the different options to manage your nonprofit. To learn more about various features of the dashboard, head to this explainer page

If your organization registered for GiveLocalNRV this year, you are listed here on the search page. The search page does not list organizations alphabetically, so that may be why you are having a hard time finding your page by scrolling down the list. 

The easiest way to find your page on the search page is by typing in your organization's name in the box at the top of the page. 


Mightycause's full Terms of Use agreement can be found on this page: https://www.mightycause.com/terms Please be aware that Mightycause's terms and conditions prohibit use of the platform for donation giveaways/incentives or other sellable items in return for donating. In other words, you can’t use the platform for a “give-to-get” campaign (e.g., things like “give $25 and you’ll get a t-shirt” are not allowed on the platform, nor can you sell items using the platform, such as event tickets.)

The Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV) can modify any rules, restrictions, or conditions if, in the sole judgment of the Board of Directors, such restriction or condition becomes unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment, or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community. As such, the CFNRV reserves the right to deny or condition the distribution of prize grants if, in the judgment of its Board of Directors, such restriction or condition becomes necessary. Additionally, users of this website agree to abide by the terms of use outlined here by Mightycause (our partners on this website platform.)

Donation Rules

We receive thousands of donations for this event. Because of the volume of donations and our desire to make things as fair as possible for all participating nonprofit partners, we have rules around what types of donations are acceptable for the event. 

Date restrictions for the 2025 Giving Day

Only donations received between June 1 and noon on Thursday, June 26 can be counted toward your giving day totals. Additionally, if they are offline donations, they must be: 1) Dated between June 1 – 26 and 2) Entered into the system by noon on June 26 to count.

Allowable Donation Types

The following types of donations are allowed to be counted in your giving day totals.

Online donations made through the givelocalnrv.org website. 

  • The website accepts payment via credit and debit cards, Paypal, Venmo, and Google Pay. Additionally, if the donation is $50 or more, the donor can have the gift deducted from their bank account.

Two types of offline donations: 

  • Cash
  • Checks 

New in 2025: wire transfers are no longer accepted for this event.

Checks must be received by your organization AND dated between June 1 – 26.  Anything under $1,000 is automatically approved. If the gift is over $1,000, we will ask to see a copy of the whole front of the check verify the details, so please keep records!

We receive thousands of donations for this event. Because of the volume of donations and our desire to make things as fair as possible for all participating nonprofit partners, we have rules around what types of donations are acceptable for the event.  

The following types of donations are not allowed to be counted toward your giving day totals and will be removed from the system. 

NO: Online donations from ANY website outside the GiveLocalNRV platform, such as via your organization’s website, a Facebook fundraiser, a GoFundMe fundraiser, etc. 

One of the goals of this event to direct donors to a single place online to be able to give to their favorite nonprofits, view the leaderboards and overall progress of the event, and have the opportunity to search for other nonprofits that may interest them. For this reason, we do not allow any online donations made outside the GiveLocalNRV platform.

NO:  Credit card donations that are processed outside the GiveLocalNRV website (such as at an event, box office, or front office.)

NO: In-kind donations.

NO: Wire transfers (this is new as of the 2025 event.)

NO:  Checks that are dated outside of June 1 – 26. 

NO:  Checks that are received before June 1 or after June 26 at noon.

Donations can be made via debit card, credit card (MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Expres), PayPal, ApplePay, and ACH through www.givelocalnrv.org.

For donations over $50, the website will give you the option of submitting payment through your bank account (ACH.) These transactions are processed through a secure service called Plaid.

The minimum online or offline donation for this event is $5. There is no maximum donation limit. 

No. Mightycause terms and conditions prohibit use of the platform for donation giveaways/incentives (commonly referred to as "give-to-get" campaigns) or other sellable items in return for making a donation. The platform also may not be used for sale-based transactions such as event or training registrations where funds are given in exchange for a good or service. The platform may only be used for charitable donations in line with IRS regulations. For questions contact support@mightycause.com.

Offline Gifts (Checks or Cash)

Cash and check donations can be entered manually as "offline donations" and will count towards your overall total (see these instructions or read below to learn how to enter an offline donation in the system.) However, the check must be both received and dated between June 1 and noon on June 26. 

Donors can also direct their Qualified Charitable Distribution towards the Giving Day for your organization, provided the actual distribution and allocation to your organization happens during the June 1 to June 26 at noon window.

Donations made via cash or check during the giving period (June 1 to noon on June 26) count toward your organization’s giving day total provided that you enter those donors into your organization’s profile before the event ends at noon on June 26. Donations received before the Early Giving period begins or after the Giving Day ends are not allowed to be counted in the Giving Day totals. 

To enter an offline donation, follow these steps:

  • Login to your profile page at https://www.givelocalnrv.org/login
  • On the left-hand side of the page, click on Reports.
  • Click on Offline Donations.
  • Click Add Offline Donation in the upper right

You will be prompted to add in information about the donor and the donation. Please keep copies of checks received. The CFNRV will ask to see a copy of the whole front of any checks of $1,000 or more to verify that the donation was received during the giving period. 

Please note that a tax receipt will not be sent by the system for offline donations. Your organization will need to provide one in that case.

If you receive a check that does not indicate some kind of restriction (such as to a specific program you are not fundraising for), you are welcome to add it as an offline donation and count it in your Giving Day totals. 

Your organization needs to send tax receipts to donors who give offline (by check or cash.) We only send tax receipts to the donors who give online through givelocalnrv.org.

Other Donation Questions

The GiveLocalNRV platform (givelocalnrv.org) charges fees for online donations: 7.4% of the donation + .30 cents for each transaction. By having every donor chip in a small amount, everyone contributes to helping support this community-wide event. 

What do the fees go toward?

  • 2.9% + 30¢ goes toward credit card processing fees.
  • 3.5% platform fee goes toward offsetting the costs of the Mightycause platform and operational costs.
  • 1% admin fee goes toward helping offset the costs of the CFNRV’s administrative support, marketing, and advertising.

A donor can choose to not pay the fees. In this case, the fees will be deducted from the donation and your organization will receive the rest of the donation. For example, if a donor gives $100 but does not want to pay the $7.70 in fees, your organization will receive a total of $92.30 from that transaction.

Fees for donations made via a bank account (ACH)
Payment by bank account is an option only for online donations $50+. For donors that give via their bank account, credit card processing fees will be replaced by a 1% transaction fee, plus a $1.50 fixed fee per transaction (total ACH processing fees will be capped at $5.00) The platform and admin fee still apply. These transactions are process through a secure service called Plaid.

Fees for donations made "offline"
Donors also have the option to make "offline" donations, which are donations not processed through the online Mightycause platform. Two forms of offline donations are accepted for this event: 1) checks and 2) cash. Because these donations are not processed through the website, there are no fees associated with these donations. Simply add them into the system so they count toward your giving day totals. The step-by-step instructions on how to add offline donations can be found in this article. 

During GiveLocalNRV, the total transaction fees are 7.4% + $0.30, and donors have the option to cover these fees to ensure the nonprofit receives 100% of their intended contribution. Donors will be encouraged to cover these fees but have the option to opt out if desired. All donations are final and cannot be refunded. 

All donations on givelocalnrv.org are made to the Mightycause Foundation, the CFNRV's partner on the GiveLocalNRV platform. The Mightycause Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that permits donors to advise a regranting of their donations to qualified charitable organizations.

Donors' credit card or bank statement will reflect this with a charge that will look like one of the following:

  • If you gave to multiple organizations at once: MCF*GiveLocalNRV OR MCFGiveLocalNRV
  • If you gave to one organization: MCF*Organization Name (i.e. if you gave to Plenty, it will likely say MCF*Plenty or MCFPlenty)

In general, electronic dispersals of the funds you raise from Mightycause to your organization's bank account happen twice per month, on the 10th and 25th of each month as follows:

  • 10th of the month, for donations made from the 16th of the previous month through the last day of the previous month
  • 25th of the month, for donations made from the 1st through the 15th of that same month

If you prefer to receive your organization's disbursement by check, please double check your legal mailing address, as that is where the disbursement checks are sent once per month. Mightycause charges a $5 service fee per disbursement check.

No, due the timing of our event and Mightycause's dispersal timeframes, you will not receive all of your funds before June 30, although you may receive some funds during your current fiscal year. 

Working with Your Donors

You can find information on all your previous donors by logging into the GiveLocalNRV website here. Then go to the "Reports" tab on the left-hand side of the page. Click on donations, then you can adjust the time period to look at previous years' data. The system only lets you look at one year at a time, but all the info is there. You can learn more about pulling these reports in this Mightycause Support article

Organizations that have registered on givelocalnrv.org can track donations in real time by logging into their account. Organizations will also receive an email notification for every donation. Nonprofits can download a detailed donation report at any time through their account to thank and follow-up with individual donors and tabulate donation value and number of donors. This .csv file can be used in Excel and is widely compatible with other spreadsheet applications. 

No, online donations made through givelocalnrv.org will automatically receive a receipt from the Mightycause Charitable Foundation. Your organization can include a custom message that will be included in the tax receipt email sent to donors. 

However, we do encourage designated charities to send a thank you note to their donors letting them know how awesome they are! Please note that if you receive a check and enter it as an offline donation in the system, a tax receipt will not be sent by the system. Your organization will need to provide one in that case.

We use the term "unique donor" for some of our grants and prizes. This term refers to unduplicated donors. Donors who make more than one gift to an organization are only counted once in that organization's "unique donor" numbers for certain grants and prizes. 

For example, if throughout the event, John makes three gifts to organization Y, he will only count as one unique donor for organization Y for the purposes of the grant or prize.

Matching Donations

Check out this informational video to learn more about how to set up matching grants for your nonprofit or check out this article: Matching Grants on Mightycause

Your match dollars will automatically show in your leaderboard total, which is different from past years. To allow your match to count towards your leaderboard total in real time, you will want to make sure "include match value in page metrics" is checked within the match set up tool (this is the automatic setting.)

Matches (called matching grants in the Mightycause system) are donations you use as tools to help you fundraise. Your nonprofit asks a donor (for example, a board member, local business or community partner) to provide a grant to your nonprofit. Then, your nonprofit leverages that grant as an incentive to donate to your fundraising campaign by promising that donations will be matched up to the amount of the grant. The particulars can vary based on your agreement with the grantor and your fundraising strategy. This can often look like one of the following scenarios:

  • For every dollar raised, the donor will give a dollar up to a certain amount of money.
  • Once the nonprofit reaches a certain fundraising milestone (such as $1,000), the match "unlocks" and the matching grant is added to your totals.

A matching donation doesn’t have to be a huge amount. An amount as low as $200 can be compelling to donors!

Check out the informational video found in this online Nonprofit Toolkit to learn more about how to set up matching grants for your nonprofit or check out this article: Matching Grants on Mightycause

Your match dollars will automatically show in your leaderboard total, which is different from past years. To allow your match to count towards your leaderboard total in real time, you will want to make sure "include match value in page metrics" is checked within the match set up tool (this is the automatic setting.)

Peer-to-Peer Fundraisers

A peer-to-peer fundraising page is a personalized fundraising page set up by a donor. The money raised via that page is counted in your organization's overall totals. This is a great tool to engage supporters and potentially get new donors. The fundraising is more personal when it comes from one of your supporters vs. your organization making a cold call or sending a mass email to people you don't know well.

We recommend asking your closest supporters to fundraise on your behalf - ask board members, long-time donors, volunteers, etc.

Send your supporters to your organization's page on the Giving Day website. They will see a button under the banner image at the top of the page that says "Fundraise". Next, a text box will appear that says "Create a Fundraiser". Then click "Get Started" to work on personalizing their page. 

Donors can create their own page from scratch or your organization can set up a template for them to use. The template can include your logo, photos, and sample language. We highly recommend setting up a template AND encouraging your donors to personalize it.

The CFNRV team does quality control on the site to see if fundraisers are named in similar ways. For example, oftentimes multiple people name their fundraisers "Giving Day Fundraiser!", which makes it difficult for someone to find the correct page in the search. We will reach out to you if we find this issue, but if we don't hear back or if it is very close to the giving day, we will re-name the page to something more distinctive using the donor's name and the organization's name, such as "Arthur's CFNRV Fundraiser!"

If you are looking for a Peer-to-Peer fundraiser, please either type in the name of the organization that the fundraiser is for or the name of the person who is fundraising and you'll find what you're looking for. View the search page here

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