Thank you, Alaska! A record number of Alaskans donated $2.7 million of their Permanent Fund Dividends to local nonprofits through Pick.Click.Give. Read all about it in this guest blog by Heather Beaty, Pick.Click.Give. Program Manager.
In 2008, the groundwork was first laid for Pick.Click.Give., a way for Alaskans to contribute a portion of their Permanent Fund Dividend to one or more Alaska nonprofit organizations. Now, five years later, Pick.Click.Give. Program Manager Heather Beaty reports on the latest PFD contributions from generous Alaskans.
Heather Beaty
Alaskans set a record this year for donations made to local nonprofits through Pick.Click.Give. More Alaskans than ever before participated in the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) charitable donation program, sharing millions of dollars with Alaska’s nonprofits.
As of April 1, 26,773 Alaskans donated $2,771,400 from their PFDs, which is $325,950 or 13% more than last year. The average amount donated per person was also record-breaking, increasing 11% from $94 in 2013 to $104 in 2014. Overall, 4.8% of Alaskans who filed online for the PFD made donations through Pick.Click.Give.
Three factors were likely the primary causes of the record-breaking year:
– A larger dividend – Experts predict Alaskans will receive a much larger PFD this year, which may have inspired first-time donors and encouraged established donors to give more.
– New advertising – Pick.Click.Give. launched a new marketing campaign titled “Lovalaska” promoting the idea of Alaskans helping Alaskans during times of need.
– “Double Your Dividend” – ExxonMobil and Rasmuson Foundation funded a sweepstakes that will award a cash prize in the amount of the 2014 dividend to 10 Alaskans who donated through Pick.Click.Give.
The goal of the Pick.Click.Give. program is to make it easy for Alaskans to donate to nonprofit causes directly from their PFDs.
Alaska’s Pick.Click.Give. program has been a singular success. Donations have increased every year:
– In 2009, the program’s first year, 5,173 Alaskans donated $545,000
– In 2010, 9,543 Alaskans donated $927,075
– In 2011, 18,726 Alaskans donated $1,570,900
– In 2012, 23,169 Alaskans donated $2,200,000
– In 2013, 26,093 Alaskans donated $2,445,450
– Total pledged since the program began: $10,459,825
Supporters of the 2014 Pick.Click.Give. campaign include ExxonMobil, Alaska Mental Health Trust, Mat-Su Health Foundation, Wells Fargo, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Atwood Foundation, Alaska Children’s Trust, Northrim Bank, Rasmuson Foundation, The Foraker Group, United Way of Anchorage, The Alaska Community Foundation and MSI Communications.
Five hundred twelve organizations in 50 communities around the state were eligible to receive donations through Pick.Click.Give. The top five recipients were Bean’s Cafe with $143,225, Alaska Public Media with $125,525, Food Bank of Alaska with $98,275, Catholic Social Services with $78,075, and Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis (AWAIC) with $71,450. Lists of how much each organization received in pledges can be viewed sorted alphabetically, by zip code, or by amount pledged.
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