For some young nonprofits that use the Give Lively fundraising platform, the people behind the scenes did not necessarily plan to get into nonprofit work. Instead, they followed a passion. At Give Lively, we’re committed to uplifting all nonprofits at every stage of development, including those founded by individuals still learning the ropes.

In the case of the Sophia Ruggieri Memorial Foundation, it wasn’t even a year old in July 2024, the time of its inaugural Sophia’s Stroll fundraising event. And yet it raised over $56,000 – an impressive amount even for an established organization with experienced development professionals – inspiring over 304 donors to support educational programs about type 1 diabetes and college scholarships for young people with type 1 diabetes. 

Memorializing 

If you had talked to the Ruggieri family a few years ago, forming and running a foundation would not have been anywhere in their thoughts. Longtime supporters of other organizations, they only knew the nonprofit world from the donors’ point of view. 

That changed on November 18, 2023, when 23-year-old Sophia Ruggieri passed away unexpectedly from complications due to type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder where the body's immune system attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing cells. Sophia had just graduated from the University of Georgia and was excited to start her career in Atlanta. 

Sophia’s father, Frank Ruggieri, remembers how, after the haze of the first few months lifted enough for him to think more clearly, he took a couple of days to reread the letters sent by friends, family and associates from all over the world. 

“Look at the love that people have sent out to us,” Frank recalls thinking. “What do we do with this now? What would Sophia want us to do?” 

The answer came in the way it sometimes can: Everything fell into place. 

Tapping into the collective love

Coworkers of Sophia’s older sister Nicole Ruggieri pitched in to raise $1,000 for Camp Kudzu, a Georgia-based camp Sophia had volunteered at every summer. Seeing the momentum, Nicole’s employer (Becton, Dickinson and Company) took the effort countrywide, raising another $5,000, which the company then matched. All in all, the Ruggieri family raised $12,000 for Camp Kudzu in January 2024. 

Things moved quickly after that as a circle of supporters rallied around the family. First, friends with nonprofit and legal experience helped file papers to make the Sophia Ruggieri Memorial Foundation a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. They established a Board of Directors, elected officers and built a website. Sophia’s cousin designed the foundation’s logo. 

Then Frank’s close friend Lou Chiera, who had previously used Give Lively, recommended us to the Ruggieri family, praising our platform’s simplicity for donors and ease of use behind the scenes.  

“Again, no familiarity [with fundraising] aside from being a donor,” Frank recounts. “We knew the old fashioned way – maybe you have a banquet or you have a silent auction, a live auction, you play golf the next day.… That’s the way we did it 20, 30 years ago. And it still works, but we’re in a new world, a virtual world.”

First steps in fundraising

Using a combination of a Give Lively-powered Campaign Page, Peer-to-Peer Fundraising and Team Fundraising, the newly formed foundation planned its inaugural campaign, called Sophia’s Stroll in memory of Sophia’s love of hiking, travel and exploration. In 2024, it raised just over $56,000. Fundraising team leaders tapped into their circles’ competitive spirit as they raised funds for type 1 diabetes education and scholarships.

“We’re all about competition because all of us came from a sports background,” explains Frank. “Our daughters all played soccer, Sophia was a great athlete. So we bought right into the competition part [of Team Fundraising]. ‘Oh, my buddy’s beating me, I’ve got to raise another $100 to beat him or her.’”

Going forward, Sophia’s Stroll has both in-person and virtual elements. The event can take place anywhere in the world, is not timed and does not have a particular distance requirement. Instead, team or individual activities may include walking, running, biking, hiking, swimming or skating. Donations may also be contributed directly to the foundation, no stroll required.

Ripples of impact

Following the success of the first Sophia’s Stroll event, the foundation made its first Sophia Ruggieri Memorial College Scholarship award to Seminole State College freshman Kelly Wolf, a cancer survivor who developed type 1 diabetes due to her cancer treatment.  

The foundation also continues to help cover some costs of attending Camp Kudzu, which for the last 25 years has taught children ages 8 to 18 vital skills for managing their type 1 diabetes. The camp is both recreational and educational in nature, with doctors and nurses on hand to share skills and strategies for preventing medical emergencies caused by the disease. Thanks to the Sophia Ruggieri Memorial Foundation, some children of families that would struggle with camp costs can now attend, regardless of their ability to pay.

Despite how difficult it is emotionally to cope with Sophia’s loss, the Ruggieri family sees organizing Sophia’s Stroll and supporting children and young adults with type 1 diabetes as a way to stay connected with Sophia. “This foundation is all about Sophia; it’s got her fingerprints all over it,” explains Frank. “I don’t call myself retired. I’m working for Sophia now.”