FINAL UPDATE (3/24/17): Unfortunately, Summer Search’s winning streak in Brackets For Good ended today. We fell to Urban Teachers in the Engaged Eight round at the very last second with a score of 12,372 to 12,261.
Thank you to AT&T for sponsoring such an exciting tournament, and to everyone who contributed during our Cinderella run. Thanks to you, we made it so much farther than we expected and raised more than $32,000 for Summer Search!
We’re going to the Big Dance! Philanthropy’s big dance, that is.
Brackets for Good is an online fundraising tournament where 64 national nonprofits compete for donations. The winning organization will receive a grand prize of a $100,000 grant courtesy of AT&T, the tournament’s presenting sponsor. #BFGUSA #BFG17
And Summer Search made the field of 64! Here’s how you can support us in this competitive giving contest.
How Does Brackets for Good Work?
It’s like the annual NCAA college basketball tournament in March. Now, replace the teams with nonprofits. Organizations go head-to-head in a single-elimination, bracket-style fundraising tournament modeled after March Madness.
During each round, donors visit usa.bfg.org, select the nonprofit they wish to support (Summer Search!), and donate money to help them earn points and advance to the next round ($1 = 1 point).
At the end of each round, the nonprofit with more points advances to the next round to compete against a new organization and the points reset.
The first week-long round of the tournament begins on February 24 and lasts through March 3.
Check out our BFG stat sheet »
How Can You Assist Summer Search?
Make a donation: During the first round of the tournament (Feb. 24 – Mar. 3), make a gift to Summer Search via the BFG platform. Any amount will help us beat our competitor!
How to make a donation on Brackets for Good »
Tell your friends: We need your help to spread the word on social media and encourage your networks to get in the game! This is a team effort and we can’t do it alone. Share our posts on Facebook and Twitter – we’ll be posting multiple times per day throughout the tournament, using the hashtags #BFGUSA and #BFG17.
It’s that easy!
And if you really want to step up your philanthropic game, you can try these pro tips.
Free Throw: Don’t have a ton of extra cash to spare? Create a BFG donor profile and you’ll automatically get a “Free Throw” promo code for $2 (free dollars) to use as a donation!
Three-Point Play: Turn your Free Throw into a Three-Point Play ($3)! After you’ve used your $2 code, send a tweet to Lids (one of the BFG sponsors) using hashtag #Score3inBFG (the BFG platform will make that easy to do), and get one additional dollar to donate. These free dollars could be the difference maker for Summer Search!
Buzzer Beater: Double your donation and give Summer Search a last-minute boost! When submitting your donation, you have the option to turn on “Buzzer Beater” points, which schedules a second gift (for the same amount) that gets automatically entered at the very last second of the round.
Stay tuned for more updates as the tournament gets closer. We’ll reveal the nonprofit we’ll be matched up against on February 23 on our Facebook and Twitter!
We can’t wait for tip off!