Craig Newmark and CrowdRise Launch Crowdfunding Challenge to Support America's Heroes

SAN FRANCISCO, May 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Craig Newmark's craigconnects and CrowdRise today launched the second annual Veterans Charity Challenge, expanded to benefit police and fire fighter nonprofits, in addition to veterans and military charities. This year's "Veterans Charity Challenge 2" is a follow-up campaign to last year's campaign, which raised more than $445,000 for veteran, military and their family-affiliated nonprofits. The Challenge begins on May 22 at 12:00 p.m. EDT and ends on July 3 at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

Newmark is personally donating $50,000 in cash prizes to encourage Americans to fundraise on behalf of and donate to their favorite "American Hero" nonprofits during the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays.

Using the CrowdRise platform, fundraising teams participating in the Veterans Charity Challenge 2 will compete to raise the most money for their charity and win additional cash prizes for their causes. The nonprofit that raises the most money by the end of the Challenge will receive a $20,000 donation from Craig Newmark on behalf of the Veterans Charity Challenge 2.  Second place will receive a $10,000 donation. Third place will receive a $5,000 donation. An additional $15,000 in Bonus Challenges will be given to charities throughout the campaign.

"I think if someone's willing to serve and even risk his or her life for me, I should give back," said craigconnects founder Craig Newmark. "And it's not only those who serve, it's also family members who give up a lot for all of us."

"We're so excited to be working with Craig and his squad on the second Veterans Charity Challenge," said CrowdRise cofounder and CEO Robert Wolfe. "The stories from last year's campaign were awesome and overwhelming in the best way ever. The notion that we're able to help veterans, their families, police and fireman in a campaign that's meaningful and fun is just so great.  Challenges like this are exactly what CrowdRising is all about."

Any nonprofit organization benefiting veterans, military personnel, police, fire fighters or their families can join the more than 60 confirmed nonprofits participating in the Challenge until June 6. After June 6, individuals can sign up to raise money for organizations, but no new organizations can participate.

This is Craig Newmark's fifth CrowdRise campaign, including his support to the third annual CrowdRise Holiday Charity Challenge which raised more than $2.3 million for nonprofits.  A number of brands and foundations have used CrowdRise for fundraising Challenges, including the Skoll Foundation, Groupon, Martha Stewart and Mozilla. The Challenge model, which is exclusive to CrowdRise, is quickly becoming a favorite of corporations, philanthropists and foundations, for whom crowdfunding is a needed update on the "giant check presentation" standard of institutional philanthropy. Countless charities plan for CrowdRise's recurring Challenges as critical moments in their yearly fundraising cycles.

For further information visit https://www.crowdrise.com/VeteransCharityChallenge2

About craigconnects
Launched in March 2011, craigconnects is Craig Newmark's personal, Web-based initiative to support philanthropy and public service. The initiative spotlights individuals, organizations, and agencies working for veterans and military families, open government, public diplomacy, back-to-basics journalism, consumer protection, and technology for the common good. craigconnects is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives.

About CrowdRise
CrowdRise is a crowdfunding platform for people and organizations to raise support for the causes they are passionate about. CrowdRise's core principles are that people have unprecedented power to use the power of networks to leverage their personal capacity and that raising money for their causes and giving back should be fun. CrowdRise's custom-built platform and game theory, as well as the company's proven record of designing innovative crowd-funding strategies, provide individual fundraisers, charities, and events with powerful tools to raise the most money for their causes and share compelling philanthropic stories with their personal networks. The site lets anyone turn their friends into an active base of donors for any cause and lets any organization, company, or event unlock untapped leverage out of their existing platform.

CrowdRise topped Mashable's list of "Most Innovative Crowdfunding Platforms" and was named a "Top 25 Best Global Philanthropist" by Barron's. CrowdRise was founded by actor and activist Edward Norton, producer Shauna Robertson, and the founders of Moosejaw, Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe. Thousands of charitable organizations, events, celebrities, and everyday donors have made CrowdRise their philanthropic base for giving back.

Media Contacts
Aaron Gannon
CrowdRise PR
Email
212-691-2800

Bruce Bonafede
craigconnects/Craig Newmark
Email
760-831-5080

SOURCE craigconnects