Second Annual Great Give Day Raises $324,308 for Northeast Iowa Nonprofits
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque’s second annual Great Give Day, a 24-hour, online-only giving day, wrapped up at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5 with 2,518 gifts totaling $324,308 raised for local nonprofits, including $36,860 in local corporate sponsorships and matches. This year, 100 nonprofits participated in the event, up from 53 in 2014. To see the totals raised by all participating nonprofits, view the leaderboard at www.GreatGiveDay.org.
2015 Prize Winners
For the second year in a row, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary raised the most dollars with 317 gifts totaling $25,760, garnering an additional $3,000 in grand prizes for the most dollars raised and the second greatest number of donors. Late in the day, Camp Courageous overtook the BVMs for the greatest number of donors, holding on to secure the $2,000 prize with 346 donors, while The Power of Prayer, Inc. took the $1,000 third place prize with 96 unique donors.
Nine nonprofits also received randomly drawn Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto $500 Golden Ticket grants:
- Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc.
- Multicultural Family Center
- Northeast Iowa School of Music
- Sacred Heart School
- St. Mary’s School/Manchester
- Colts Youth Organization
- St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church
- Dubuque Museum of Art
- Finley Health Foundation – Visiting Nurse Association
Beyond the Dollars
The dollars are just part of the story, however. The response from participating nonprofits as well as community members and donors has been overwhelmingly positive. Many nonprofits learned how to use social media, created their first e-mail campaigns and raised dollars online for the first time. Many donors also gave online for the first time and more than 540 donors indicated they were new donors to an organization. Great Give Day also received 345 donations from 14 states outside of Iowa.
The Community Foundation staff thank participating nonprofits and donors for making Great Give Day a success, as well as our media sponsors, THMedia and Radio Dubuque, who helped us spread the word, and our corporate sponsors who contributed $28,000 in prize dollars for nonprofits: Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto; Dupaco; American Trust; Anderson-Weber Toyota; Dubuque Bank & Trust; Klauer Manufacturing. Additional match funds and support came from Mary Schmid; Allamakee County Community Foundation; Foundation for the Future of Delaware County; and Inspire Café.