DECEMBER 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 17
THE NEW GALAS Charitable organizations are getting creative with socially distant fundraisers and donation drives. (Getty Images)
WHAT’S INSIDE continued on page 18
20CORNER OFFICE 22SHAKERS 23 24 NONPROFIT
25
EVENTS
CHARITY
SPOTLIGHT
WHOLLY MOLI: MADE
ON LONG ISLAND
MOVERS &
PRESS BUSINESS
LI NONPROFITS PIVOT AMID PANDEMIC
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
The Long Island Insurance Community, a nonprofit that brings together insurance industry
leaders to give back to the community and to those less fortunate, holds a big, annual
fundraiser for the United Way of Long Island attended by hundreds. That was pre-pandemic.
Unable to unite this year, LIIC instead launched a virtual text-a-thon, sending a barrage
of texts and live streaming an event to benefit the United Way of Long Island’s COVID-19
response fund. The group raised $96,000 — half the amount in prior years, but not bad
for a fundraiser that, otherwise, would have been canceled. It announced raffle winners
and presented messages from LIIC cochairs, United Way partners, executives, and people
benefiting from services.
“You used to have 300 people in a room,” said Gloria Gargano, LIIC cochair and a United
Way of Long Island board member. “We were able to come up with something that kept
people engaged and allowed us to raise money.”
While many businesses figure out how to transform with the times, nonprofits facing
challenges are reinventing fundraising.
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