Fundraising & Campaigns
El Paso Giving Day opens with a $2.5 million Meta match, first come, first served
Meta will match gifts dollar for dollar, up to $25,000 per nonprofit, from 8 a.m. on October 15 while the money lasts. The community goal is $2.5 million.
By The Editors · The Game of Giving
El Paso Giving Day, in its eleventh year, takes place on October 15, with a $2.5 million matching pool from Meta that opens at 8 a.m., according to the event's website. The Paso del Norte Community Foundation founded the giving day in 2016, the site says, and early giving ran October 8 through 14.
How the Meta match works
Meta, through The Future is for Everyone Fund, committed $2.5 million in matching funds, awarded first come, first served. Eligible gifts are matched dollar for dollar, up to $25,000 per qualifying nonprofit, from 8 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on October 15 or until the money runs out, whichever comes first.
Other partners are matching gifts too. The site lists Marathon Petroleum, The Melinda and Meyer Marcus Family Foundation and the de Wetter Family Charitable Foundation as matching partners, with their matches running from October 8 through October 15. A nonprofit becomes eligible for Meta's funds once its partner matching funds are used up, the site says.
The goal and the track record
The event lists a $2.5 million community giving goal and says that, with Meta's match, the community can generate "more than $5 million for local nonprofits." It says the day has supported more than 260 local nonprofits and has raised more than $13.5 million since 2016. The site does not give a single-year total for 2025, so we cannot say how this year's goal compares, and results had not been posted when we published.
What other campaigns can learn
A first-come match rewards speed, and a per-organization cap spreads the money across more groups. In our view, a nonprofit that waits until late in the day risks arriving after a first-come pool is gone, so asking supporters to give early can matter. Layering smaller partner matches ahead of a larger pool, as El Paso does, also gives organizations a reason to start during the early-giving week. For how a challenge match shaped another one-day campaign, see UNO's record giving day, and for planning a single day of giving, how a small nonprofit can prepare for GivingTuesday.
General information for donors and nonprofit leaders, not legal or tax advice. How we report is set out in our editorial guide.
