Record turnout for Day of Giving
Final numbers show increase in donors
PITTSBURGH, Pa., Oct. 11, 2013 – Over 18,000 donors – a record for the 24-hour giving event – made contributions during The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Day of Giving last week. The total raised for charitable organizations in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties was $7,719,000.
Credit card charitable gifts were received from a total of 18,194 individual donations during the event on October 3, up from the 17,719 contributions in 2012. A total of 719 local nonprofits received donations of the 729 organizations that participated in the event, having completed or updated profiles on the Foundation’s PittsburghGives on-line site.
Following the completion of financial reconciliations by Foundation staff, the amount of matching funds for nonprofits in Allegheny County was confirmed at 13 cents for every dollar they received. In Westmoreland, which had a separate match pool, the match is 20.8 cents on the dollar.
Due to its unexpectedly high rate of growth since 2009, The Pittsburgh Foundation introduced minor modifications to the event this year. To ensure a robust match percentage for participating nonprofits, the Foundation determined that only the first $1,000 per individual per organization would be eligible to receive matching dollars from the match pools. In previous years, the cap was $10,000.
In terms of funds raised during the event, the leading organization in Allegheny County was Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra which received donations amounting to $191,547, which qualifies for matching funds totaling $19,306. Next was the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank which received $176,137 (plus match of $22,457); followed by Central Catholic High School, $122,640 ($11,974); Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, $118,141 ($12,377); The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust $115,544 ($10,390); Rodef Shalom Congregation, $98,652 ($11,365); Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, $95,538 ($12,047); Pittsburgh Opera, $87,790 ($7,527); Tree of Life Congregation, $84,287 ($9,323); and WQED Multimedia, $84,100 ($10,706).
For Westmoreland, the top ten nonprofits for funds received were: Seton Hill University, $45,508 ($9,183); Ligonier Camp and Conference Center, $27,690 (plus match of $5,256); Westmoreland County Food Bank, $25,506 ($5,322); Murrysville Community Library, $18,526 ($3,657); Westmoreland Cultural Trust, $16,680 ($3,063); Valley Points Family YMCA, $15,640 ($3,264); Tri-City Life Center, Inc., $13,855 ($2,891); Penn State New Kensington, $11,675 ($558); Stage Right Westmoreland County, $10,787 ($1,875);and Union Mission of Latrobe, $10,606 ($1,378).
Public donations for Allegheny County during the Day of Giving amounted to $6,390,000 which combined with the match pool of $750,000 created a total of $7,140,000. In Westmoreland, public contributions totaled $484,000 which receive matching funds of $95,000, together totaling $579,000. All donations receive an equal pro-rated share of the match pools.
The following are the top ten nonprofits in Allegheny and Westmoreland in terms of the number of donations received:
Allegheny Number of Donations
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank - 1245
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - 1010
WESA – Essential Public Radio – 769
Animal Friends Inc. – 757
WQED Multimedia – 743
Animal Rescue League of Western PA – 742
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra - 654
Light of Light Rescue Mission - 584
Western Pennsylvania Humane Society - 477
Bike Pittsburgh – 471
Westmoreland Number of Donations
Westmoreland County Food Bank - 253
Seton Hill University - 206
Greensburg Hempfield Library – 111
Ligonier Camp and Conference Center – 96
Animal Friends of Westmoreland County – 91
Westmoreland Cultural Trust - 86
Murrysville Community Library - 86
Blackburn Center Against Domestic & Sexual Violence - 82
Faith in Action Laurel Area – 78
Action for Animals - 77
Since the launch of PittsburghGives in 2009, the on-line site’s giving events have so far raised more than $28 million for the region’s nonprofit organizations.
The PittsburghGives platform serves year-round as a unique on-line giving and research program for nonprofits to showcase their work in the community, detailing information about their charitable programs, missions, management and finances. PittsburghGives can be accessed at www.pittsburghgives.org.
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