Read Our Top 10 End-of-Year Suggestions to Help Cottonwood Unlock a $25,000 Match to Support Award-Winning Programs.
As we wrap up 2025 and dream about what the future holds, I am incredibly grateful for our Cottonwood Institute community of students, parents, program partners, staff, instructors, donors, sponsors, and funders who have supported us the past 21 years. Together, we had a huge impact this past year. In case you missed it, check out our Year in Review: Impact Report 2024-25.
Headwinds: There is no doubt that we have some headwinds as we approach the new year. School budgets are getting cut, which impacts our enrichment programs during the school year as well as our summer programs. Grants are becoming more and more competitive as Federal funding is getting cut and the need in the community increases. Some nonprofits that support the most vulnerable in our community are closing their doors.
Good News: $25,000 Match! But despite these challenges, there is a great opportunity for our community to come together to support our students, families, and program partners in Aurora, Denver, and Boulder County. And the good news I wanted to share is that 3 generous families have come together again this year to offer a $25,000 dollar for dollar match through December 31st to help us cover a critical funding gap to support our CAP Programs, Changemaker Program, and Alumni programs.
Top 10 Easy Ways To Make A Difference In 2025:
- Donate for Colorado Gives Day, now through December 9th.
- Join our Seedling Monthly Giving Program.
- Make a one-time online gift.
- Ask if your employer will match your gift.
- Recommend a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) grant.
- Give on Giving Tuesday, December 2nd.
- Donate on Crypto Giving Tuesday.
- Make a Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA (if you’re 70½+). Contact your Financial Advisor.
- Support our Angevine Middle School CAP crowdfunding campaign.
- Start your own fundraiser for CI on ColoradoGives.org.
Your Donation Makes An Impact: No matter how large or how small, your donation impacts our students for a lifetime. We recently reconnected with Jaime H. who attended our Endangered Wolves Project with STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside (now Rocky Mountain Prep) when he was in middle school. He is now in college at CU Denver, and here is what he had to share about his trip:
“I’ve always loved the outdoors, but your program was the first opportunity I had to go camping and get a real taste of the outdoors. I think your program really is making a difference, because after that camping trip, I’ve wanted to do so many things outdoors and even began rock climbing as of last year.”
Double Your Impact by Donating by December 31st: Whether you can donate $10,000 or $10, every donation has a big impact and will be doubled up to $25,000 by December 31st. Help invest in our students and help us grow the next generation of leaders, problem-solvers, and changemakers. Donate today to any of our top 10 suggestions above!
Ford Church, Founder and Executive Director
Cottonwood Institute
Contact via Email or by phone at 303.447.1076 x700
