A local nonprofit will have the opportunity to win up to $20,000 dollars in office equipment through Blue Ash-based
Modern Office Methods’
JUMP Start Your Nonprofit.
“Local nonprofits put their money back into their charities and back into their causes,” says Julie Italiano, marketing director at MOM. “We just really felt that if we can help them and have some fun with it, it’d be just a cool way of doing things.”
So for the past four years,
MOM has hosted a contest where nonprofits in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus encourage community members to vote for a cause in which they are passionate so that three nonprofits can further their missions through the additions of new equipment.
“Nonprofits don’t have the budgets for equipment like high-end copiers, printers, color copiers, document management systems—these devices, everyone’s so used to having them in their offices—it’s like a staple,” Italiano says. “But when you have a nonprofit that maybe has an old piece of equipment that breaks down, we’re able to provide them with better, newer, faster equipment.”
The Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati was last year’s first runner-up, but Italiano says a Cincinnati nonprofit has never won the grand prize.
“We haven’t had a $20,000 dollar winner in Cincinnati, and it’s just killing me,” Italiano says. “I just want them to win so bad. This is where we’re corporately headquartered, and it’s where we have the most brand presence—it’d just be great to see a local nonprofit get the big prize.”
Nonprofits can
register for the contest and submit their reasons for why they are in need through October 11. Then MOM representatives will meet with the 30 finalists throughout the company’s market to personally assist them in determining what types of equipment will best suit the organization’s needs.
“The Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati got a brand new color device last year, and they were looking to do more marketing material,” Italiano says. ”They’re helping people read, and you read using different colors, different fonts—basically they wanted a good device to be able to print that kind of material. And I think we were able to provide that for them.”
Voting will begin October 21, so community members will have the chance to help a Cincinnati organization attain the most votes.
“They’ll just go crazy on social media—what they’ll do to promote themselves,” Italiano says. “One from Columbus last year—there was an elderly care facility that did a rap video, and it was so cute. It’s just really cool—some of the things the nonprofits do to get the word out.”
Do Good:
•
Register your nonprofit for the contest.
• Check back during the week of October 14 to view the finalists, and then
vote daily from October 21 through November 1.
• Support local nonprofits you are passionate about.
By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at both the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.