Go Big Give raises nearly $513,000 in 24 hours
Posted: Wednesday, May 4, 2016 12:00 pm | Updated: 12:03 pm, Wed May 4, 2016.
By Harold Reutter
Tuesday’s Go Big Give raised $512,771 for more than 100 nonprofit organizations in Hall, Hamilton, Howard and Merrick counties.
People could donate to their favorite organizations online at www.gobiggive.org during a 24-hour period that ended at midnight Tuesday. The Heartland United Way and Grand Island Community Foundation helped organize the event, which was in its third year.
Both organizations were at the Conestoga Mall on Tuesday to accept online donations, as well as donations that came in the form of cash or checks. In addition, more than 25 nonprofits also set up displays at the mall to educate people about the work they do and to accept donations.
Many of the 104 participating nonprofits also had events at their home locations on Tuesday. Last year, a total of 83 nonprofit organizations received just over $511,000.
"We are just so extremely grateful for the generous support that our sponsors, our volunteers, our media partners, our nonprofits and certainly our donors showed to help Go Big Give have a tremendously successful day," said Karen Rathke, Heartland United Way president.
Rathke said work is still being done to determine the total number of donations, especially because some were done off line. However, Rathke said that, when the totals are in, she believes that "just shy of 3,000" donations will have been made for the 2016 event. That would also be an increase in the number of donors from 2015.
The 10 nonprofits that received the largest amount of donations on Tuesday:
— Edgerton Explorit Center: $50,797.
— Nebraska State Fair 1868 Foundation: $38,784.
— Grand Island Central Catholic Development Foundation: $34,822.
— Heartland Lutheran High School Foundation: $20,745.
— Grand Island Public Schools Foundation: $17,270.
— Community Arts for All: $17,115.
— Stuhr Museum Foundation: $11,522.
— Central Health Center: $11,350.
— Cairo Community Foundation: $11,158.
— Wood River Community Centennial Foundation: $10,946.
The nonprofits that ranked 11th through 20th in fundraising were New Hope Christian School, $10,494; Trinity Lutheran School Foundation, $9,658; Memorial Foundation, $9,009; Grand Island Area Habitat for Humanity, $8,695; Hall County Historical Society, $7,421; Central Nebraska Humane Society, $6,653; Howard County Medical Center Foundation, $6,275; Hope Harbor, $5,675; State Theater Foundation, $5,657; and the Leadership Center, $5,262.
As part of Go Big Give, organizations will receive the donations given to their organization as well as a proportional share of the match pool. For example, if an organization receives 5 percent of the total donations raised by all organizations in Go Big Give, it will receive 5 percent of the challenge match pool. Those matching funds came from Champions Club sponsors, which collectively provided $65,000 in match pool funds.
While Go Big Give is primarily a 24-hour donation event, people could also give in advance. In addition to raising the most money overall, Edgerton Explorit Center received another $1,500 for getting the most advance dollars and $1,500 for getting the most unique donors. Nebraska State Fair 1868 Foundation received two $1,000 cash awards for finishing second in both those categories.