Community Foundation of Greater Dubuques Third Annual Great Give Day Raises $367,453 for Nonprofits
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque’s third annual Great Give Day raised a total of $367,453 for 114 nonprofit organizations throughout Northeast Iowa between Tuesday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 4, surpassing last year’s total of $324,308 by more than $43,000.
Great Give Day was presented by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD) as part of the third annual Give Local America event. This national, online giving day is organized by Kimbia, the company that provides the website for Great Give Day and 53 other giving day sites serving 200 communities.
Starting at around 9 a.m. CST, Kimbia’s platform suffered technical difficulties that slowed websites and forced organizers across the country to make alternate plans to help community members give.
Due to these technical issues, CFGD extended Great Give Day—originally intended to last 24 hours—to Wednesday, May 4. Foundation staff accepted donations over the phone, through the CFGD website, and also via cash and check to ensure that all community members who wanted to participate had the opportunity to support their favorite nonprofits.
Despite the frustration that arose around the technical difficulties, community members and nonprofits alike have been understanding and very positive about the event as a whole.
“Great Give Day is a wonderful opportunity to discover more about all of the worthy nonprofit organizations that serve our community,” said one community member on the event survey.
“We felt very supported by the Community Foundation during the crisis and appreciated the continual updates and re-tweeting of our tweets,” noted a nonprofit leader on the same survey.
2016 Prize Winners
Generous corporate sponsors contributed nearly $30,000 to fund bonus prizes for Great Give Day to generate excitement and friendly competition. The original prize schedule included three grand prizes and a variety of hourly contests running from 5 a.m. to midnight. Due to website issues, only four hourly prizes were awarded; the Foundation redirected the remaining $20,000 as proportional matches for all gifts received between 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 3 and the event close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4.
The final list of prize winners is as follows:
Grand Prizes for Most Unique Donors
· 1st Place ($2,000) - Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (181 donors)
· 2nd Place ($1,500) – Camp Courageous (142 donors)
· 3rd Place ($1,000) – Northeast Iowa Community College (80 donors)
Hourly Prizes Awarded
· 5 a.m. Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto Golden Ticket ($500) – Grant Wood Mississippi River Region
· 6 a.m. Power Hour for Most Dollars Raised ($500) – Sisters of Charity, BVM
· 8 a.m. Klauer Manufacturing 30-Minute Money Match – The first $500 of all donations made between 8-8:30 a.m. were matched proportionally by the $2,500 prize pool.
· 7 a.m. Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto Golden Ticket ($500) – Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development, Inc.
· 9 a.m. Power Hour for Most Donors ($500) – Northeast Iowa Community College
Pre-Event Facebook Contest Winners
· 1st Place ($300) – Bell Tower Theater
· 2nd Place ($200) – Compass to Care
Pre-Event Sign-Up $250 Contest Winner
· Dubuque Community YMCA/YWCA-Victim Services Shelter
Holy Family Catholic Schools raised the most dollars, with $63,585 in total gifts. The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary came in second place with $22,962, and the Multicultural Family Center came in third with $19,840.
Beyond the Dollars
The dollars are just part of the story, however. Both the Community Foundation and nonprofits worked hard to spread the word about Great Give Day. Website issues notwithstanding, these efforts created a great deal of awareness about the good work that nonprofits are doing throughout Northeast Iowa. In addition, based on the donor information that CFGD was able to collect, at least 350 community members gave to organizations they had never supported before.
"The Community Foundation presents Great Give Day as an opportunity for community members to come together to support and celebrate our local nonprofits," said Nancy Van Miligen, CFGD President/CEO. "Just like the participating organizations, we put a lot of time and resources into making this day a success for nonprofits and donors alike, and we share their frustration and disappointment with the website issues. While this year’s event did not go as planned, it became something even better: a story of community members’ dedication to supporting local nonprofits. We have been inspired by the understanding of participating nonprofits and the kind and generous response of community members who continue to give despite technical challenges. Northeast Iowa is truly a generous region and we are honored to serve you.”
The Community Foundation staff thank participating nonprofits and donors for making Great Give Day a success, as well as media sponsors, the Telegraph Herald, Radio Dubuque and OnMedia, who helped to spread the word, and corporate sponsors who contributed prize dollars: Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto; Dupaco; American Trust; Anderson-Weber Toyota; Dubuque Bank & Trust; Klauer Manufacturing; Morrison Brothers Company; and Honkamp Krueger & Co., P.C. Additional match funds and support came from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque; Allamakee County Community Foundation; the Foundation for the Future of Delaware County; and the Community Foundation of Jackson County.
For more information about Great Give Day, visit www.GreatGiveDay.org or the Community Foundation website at www.dbqfoundation.org.
***Please note: Earlier versions of this release announced a total of $370,528. Due to the technical difficulties with the online platform, some donors accidentally made multiple gifts. After refunds, the revised total raised is $367,453.