We are very pleased to announce today that the Case Foundation, Causes and PARADE are joining together to present the 2009 America’s Giving Challenge, a national competition launching on October 7.

The Challenge, which will be featured in an October 11th cover story in Parade and will utilize the Causes application on Facebook, will enable passionate individuals and nonprofits to compete for awards of up to $50,000, based on the number of donations they garner for their favorite cause.

The first America’s Giving Challenge brought together tens of thousands of people and motivated them to give to the causes they care about. We hope this year’s Challenge will not only help nonprofits leverage their existing efforts to raise awareness, support and donations, but will be a catalyst to help nonprofits think about how to use online social networking and social media in a more strategic way to engage supporters for their causes.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll share more details about how this year’s Challenge will work. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out our Gear Up for Giving training sessions aimed at helping nonprofits better navigate the world of social media. It is our hope that nonprofits participating in these sessions will put their new skills in action by participating in America’s Giving Challenge. In addition, you can help us spread the word about the upcoming launch by blogging, tweeting (using #AGC), posting on Facebook, or sharing with your network in some other way. We look forward to having you join us for the 2009 America’s Giving Challenge!