Between the pandemic and two powerful tropical storms, it has been a tough year on the Yucatán Peninsula. In response, a crowdfunding platform called HIPGive.org has created a donation matching campaign for nonprofit organizations working on rural development in Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán.
The campaign is providing 1.5 million pesos (US $75,600) to match crowdfunded donations for a variety of small nonprofits. The initiative, known as #TierrasMayas, seeks to make 2021 “year of opportunities … to rebuild and redouble efforts toward more equitable development and shared prosperity in the region,” according to a press release.
Before the #TierrasMayas campaign, HIPGive provided select organizations with online training and guidance in crowdfunding and fundraising practices. The first stage of the campaign took place in November 2020 and matched more than 500,000 pesos in donations made to 15 nonprofits.
This year on May 6 and 27, HIPGive will match 1.2 million pesos, the largest sum of matching donations currently available in Mexico, the organization said.
The campaign will also offer additional funds to the organizations with the highest number of individual donors.
“This reflects the premise of #TierrasMayas: ‘we can all be philanthropists’ and the open invitation for more people to join the campaign through making a donation online. Supporting #TierrasMayas means investing in the reconstruction and resilience of rural communities on the Yucatán Peninsula, improving their living standards and boosting economic development. Through the crowdfunding model a small contribution, made by many people, can make a difference in an entire community.”
HIPGive.org is the digital branch of Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP), a network of donors whose goal is to strengthen Latin communities in the Americas, and calls itself “the first and only crowdfunding platform, focused on promoting Latin social impact projects and promoting generosity in the Americas …”
According to the HIP website, only 6.3% of U.S. foundation funding for international causes went to Latin America in 2014 and 2015. Of that, just 36% went directly to Latin American organizations.
“Traditional philanthropy has left many Latin nonprofits out, and few tools exist to facilitate investment by Latinos in the causes they care about. That leaves a critical gap.”
Since April 2014, over $3.6 million has been channeled to more than 1,000 Latin-focused nonprofits on HIPGive, the organization says.
Mexico News Daily
