Live Give 7B Builds a Stronger Nonprofit Sector

How coordinated giving strengthens collaboration in Bonner County

By Like Media Team

Live Give 7B is redefining coordinated generosity in Bonner County. The community-wide week of giving brings together local nonprofits, businesses, and neighbors to strengthen the place they call home by supporting organizations that care for families, protect natural spaces, and expand access to critical services.

“Live Give 7B is about collective impact,” says Community Resource EnVision Center Executive Director Katie Begalke. “When generosity is coordinated, celebrated, and multiplied, our entire community benefits.”

The campaign emerged in 2025 from conversations among nonprofit leaders who understood both the region’s strengths and its structural challenges. Begalke, alongside Dig Chrismer of Innovia Foundation and Katie Cox of Kaniksu Land Trust, began exploring the idea through the Nonprofit Executive Director Collaborative. Bonner County has nearly three times the national average of nonprofits per capita. That statistic reflects both deep community need and a willingness among local residents to step up when gaps appear.

Inspired by regional giving campaigns in Montana and aligned intentionally with Idaho Gives, organizers saw an opportunity to create something specifically tailored to Bonner County. Idaho Gives provides statewide infrastructure and visibility. Live Give 7B adds local coordination, shared training, and a unified narrative about the impact happening here at home. Rather than compete with a larger campaign, the goal was to leverage it and build something complementary.

The inaugural year tested whether the community would respond to that vision. Seventy-three nonprofits participated. Together, they raised more than $229,000 from 515 unique donors. For a first-year effort, the results were strong. Donors supported multiple causes. Businesses engaged. Organizations cross-promoted one another. Bonner County demonstrated that it was ready to rally around a shared effort.

What the first year revealed was as important as what it raised. Nearly one-third of participating organizations did not secure funds during the campaign. That data point became central to shaping year two. The lesson was not that the model failed; it was that preparation matters.

“Year two is about building capacity alongside dollars so that participation translates into measurable impact across the entire sector,” Begalke explains.

Rather than focus solely on expanding participation numbers, organizers concentrated on strengthening readiness. In 2026, 46 nonprofits are currently registered, representing health services, housing and food security, youth development, education, arts, conservation, recreation, animal welfare, literacy, journalism, and historic preservation. The diversity underscores the campaign’s strength. Live Give 7B reflects the full ecosystem of what makes Bonner County function. Many participating nonprofits also serve Boundary County and surrounding communities, extending that impact beyond county lines.

Preparation now includes expanded Nonprofit Growth Summits that equip organizations with practical, transferable tools. These collaborative sessions focus on messaging clarity, donor engagement strategies, page optimization, storytelling, and advance outreach planning. Leaders are refining impact statements, strengthening elevator pitches, improving donation links, and building donor lists before the giving window opens. The emphasis has shifted from urgency to strategy.

Organizations are also learning alongside one another. Peer collaboration has become one of the campaign’s defining characteristics. Instead of operating in isolation, nonprofits are sharing best practices and reinforcing the idea that sector-wide strength benefits everyone.

“Organizations are no longer preparing in isolation,” Begalke says. “They’re training together, sharing ideas, and celebrating one another’s success.”

That cultural shift may be the campaign’s most important outcome. Fundraising often encourages competition. Live Give 7B intentionally counters that mindset by reinforcing shared ownership of community wellbeing. Success for one organization does not diminish another. It elevates the collective.

The 2026 goal of $276,000 reflects both ambition and analysis. The number represents at least 20 percent growth over the inaugural year’s total of $229,000. Participation is more strategic. Awareness is stronger. Systems are clearer. Preparation is deeper, and growth is attainable.

Alignment with Idaho Gives remains central. The 2026 campaign runs May 4–7 in coordination with the statewide platform, culminating in a May 8 community celebration. Idaho Gives provides the online infrastructure and broader marketing reach. Live Give 7B adds local coordination, sponsorship activation, and storytelling specific to Bonner County. That pairing creates a multiplier effect. Donors benefit from seamless access to a statewide platform while engaging in a locally amplified narrative.

Year two has also strengthened sponsorship partnerships. Innovia Foundation serves as Community Champion and Presenting Sponsor, reinforcing the importance of investing in nonprofit sustainability. Mountain West Bank, Litehouse Foods, and Capstone Accounting are supporting nonprofit summit lunches, ensuring leaders can gather and prepare together. The Idaho Community Foundation is offsetting printing costs for highly visible yard signs placed throughout April, leading into the campaign celebration. The 219 Lounge has also joined the effort as an Impact Partner with a $1,000 sponsorship and is contributing a portion of beverage sales during campaign week toward a prize for the May 8 celebration. Donations include $5 from every top-shelf bourbon, $2 from each classic cocktail, and $1 from every beer sold May 4–8. Additional in-kind and downtown collaborations are expanding visibility and strengthening connections between the business and nonprofit communities.

These partnerships reflect recognition that a healthy nonprofit sector supports economic resilience and community stability.

The importance of Live Give 7B becomes clearer when viewed against Bonner County’s nonprofit density. With nearly three times the national average of nonprofits per capita, resources can feel stretched. Many organizations operate with small teams and limited fundraising capacity. Donor pools overlap. Without coordination, fragmentation becomes likely.

Live Give 7B addresses that structural reality by creating shared momentum. It reframes abundance not as competition but as evidence of civic engagement. A high number of nonprofits reflects residents' identification of needs and their action to meet them. Coordinated giving ensures those efforts strengthen one another rather than compete for visibility.

Keeping donations local strengthens that alignment. When dollars remain within Bonner County, they circulate through programs, staffing, volunteer engagement, and rapid response to emerging needs. Local organizations understand rural geography, seasonal economic pressures, housing constraints, and the nuances of community life. Donors can see outcomes firsthand and build trust through proximity.

“Keeping donations local strengthens the very systems that support daily life here,” Begalke says. “When we give locally, we reinforce the networks of care that hold neighbors up.”

The long-term vision for Live Give 7B extends beyond annual totals. Over the next three to five years, organizers intend for the campaign to become a defining community tradition. The Community Resource EnVision Center views it as one component of a broader mission to build shared infrastructure, including a nonprofit and economic hub where organizations, small businesses, and leaders can collaborate more effectively and strengthen long-term sustainability.

Live Give 7B functions as both a catalyst and a connector. It generates dollars and builds relationships. The Growth Summits foster peer learning that benefits grant writing, sponsorship conversations, and board recruitment long after the campaign ends. Skills developed for one week extend year-round.

If year one proved readiness and year two builds structure, the next phase will build permanence. Success will not be measured solely by dollars raised, though those numbers matter. It will be reflected in clearer messaging across organizations, stronger donor engagement, deeper business partnerships, and a nonprofit sector that views collaboration as standard practice.

Live Give 7B 2026 runs May 4–7, with a culminating community celebration on May 8. Individuals can participate by giving directly through the campaign platform, sharing nonprofit stories, and engaging with organizations throughout the week. Businesses can sponsor, provide in-kind support, highlight nonprofit partnerships, or encourage employee participation.

The campaign concludes with a community celebration on May 8 from 3–6 pm at the HIVE in downtown Sandpoint. During the event, organizers will reveal the total raised and key statistics from the week’s giving. The celebration will be presented in a game show–style format on stage, featuring interactive elements and contestants drawn from Live Give 7B sponsors and donors. Prizes will include cash awards and locally donated experiences, creating an atmosphere designed to celebrate the shared impact made across Bonner County.

Every contribution reinforces the same principle: coordinated generosity strengthens community infrastructure. What began as a strategic conversation among nonprofit leaders is evolving into a cultural norm. If that trajectory continues, Live Give 7B will represent more than an annual giving window. It will stand as a coordinated expression of how Bonner County chooses to sustain itself, together.

To learn more, view participating nonprofits, or get involved, visit 7BGives.org.

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