Pluff Mud Connect, the new web-based matching service for nonprofits and local businesses, invites area nonprofits to apply to win one of five $1,000 Thrive! Prizes.
Inspired by Pluff Mud Connect’s mission to help nonprofits grow their capacity and sustainability, the Thrive! Prize will focus solely on one-time projects that strengthen a nonprofit’s staff, volunteer base, fund-raising, marketing or other infrastructure needs. To be eligible, applicants must be registered as a 501 (c) 3 and be physically located in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Jasper or Hampton counties. Applicants must also be registered with Pluff Mud Connect (www.pluffmudconnect.com), which is free to all area nonprofits.
To apply for the prize, nonprofits need only answer one very simple question: If your organization received an extra $1,000 that could only be used for a one-time project, what would you do?
Applicants must submit their answers to the full question at www.pluffmudconnect.com between July 1 and 31. Winners will be announced in August 2009.
Semi-finalists will be chosen by the Pluff Mud Connect team. Members of the web-based community will then be invited to vote for the five finalists. “Involving our local nonprofit and business members in selecting the winners is a natural choice for us,” said Laura Deaton, founder of the site. “Since the funding is designed to help nonprofits build capacity by using enrolled local service providers, consultants and businesses, it gets everyone invested in creating a win-win from the start.”
The Thrive! Prize fund is fueled through a portion of the enrollment fees paid by the local consultants, service providers and businesses that join the service. Launched May 15, 2009, Pluff Mud Connect already counts more than 100 members on the site. Collectively, the buying power of its registered nonprofits totaled more than $96 million as of mid-June and business members provide services across more than 75 sub-categories, including infrastructure and technology, web design and other marketing services, printing and direct mail, fundraising, human resources, legal services, accounting services and more.