When you log in to share some of your PFD through Pick.Click.Give. this year, you will see something new: seven percent of donations collected by nonprofits will be used to fund the administration of the program. Rasmuson Foundation President Diane Kaplan says this is good news, and a source of pride for Alaska. In today's post, she elaborates on why.
Soon thousands of Alaskans will log onto the Permanent Fund Division website to apply for their 2015 dividends. Many (like the 26,000 who did last year) will share a portion of it with a nonprofit they believe in. And ALL will see something new: seven percent of donations collected by nonprofits will be used to fund the administration of Pick.Click.Give.
This is great news for the program.
Why? It means that Pick.Click.Give. is no longer a start-up, but is maturing and moving toward sustainability.
Here’s an example of what you will see.
And here’s what you should know:
- Your entire gift – 100 percent – made through Pick.Click.Give. goes to the organization of your choice and is tax-deductible.
- The administrative fee is charged to each organization in a lump sum, not deducted from individual gifts.
- The organization you donate to will be notified of the entire amount of your gift.
- The administrative fee collected by Pick.Click.Give. is reinvested back into Alaska’s nonprofit sector through training, technical assistance and communications support.
Together, WE – and I mean all of us, individual donors, sponsors, nonprofits, partners, champions – have built a uniquely Alaska philanthropy platform to connect Alaskans with important Alaska causes. Based on participation, Pick.Click.Give. may well be the most successful statewide giving program in the country. Together we moved our state out of last place in giving metrics.
And we accomplished all this with zero state dollars. All the costs of Pick.Click.Give. – from building the online pages in the PFD website, to postage for mailing the checks – have been borne by sponsors and a $250 fee paid by nonprofits when they apply to participate. Rasmuson Foundation has donated the services of a half-time staff member to help manage the campaign and be the central hub of communication. A list of sponsors and partners follow this post. An estimated 700 nonprofits and 70,000 Alaskans also share in the credit.
As committed as the dozen-plus sponsors are, funding the entire program forever was never in the cards. And like every baby bird, the day has come for Pick.Click.Give. to take flight.
The seven percent solution to begin covering Pick.Click.Give. costs wasn’t picked out of a hat. It was developed over several years in consultation with participating nonprofits and with help from 
the legislature.
In September 2012, 34 nonprofit leaders addressed Pick.Click.Give. sustainability. They said Pick.Click.Give. should retain a statewide communications program, and that a coordinator would likely be necessary to keep the program running smoothly. The financial model that received the most support was one that would assess a modest, flat percentage of each group’s donations on top of the $250 filing fee.
That feedback informed a survey in Fall 2013 of all Pick.Click.Give. nonprofit participants. Nonprofits overwhelmingly said the statewide marketing campaign was an essential component of Pick.Click.Give. As for how to pay for it, the primary sentiment was that collecting a percentage of donations was most fair and equitable.
Last summer, the Governor signed H.B. 75 into law which put the seven percent administrative fee into action, and required that the Permanent Fund Division provide a notice on the Pick.Click.Give. application form.
At current levels, a seven percent fee covers about half of the cost for the statewide administration. Until the campaign grows to $5 million in annual donations – the break-even point – we will continue to seek private funds to make up the difference.
As we launch into year seven of Pick.Click.Give., we share a sense of excitement about what lies ahead and about what we can continue to do together, a sense of pride about what we have built, and a sense of gratitude to the thousands of Alaskans who through their work, their volunteering, and their donations make Alaska an even better place.
Pick.Click.Give. is coordinated through a partnership of The Permanent Fund Dividend Division of the Alaska Department of Revenue, Rasmuson Foundation, The Foraker Group, United Way of Anchorage, and The Alaska Community Foundation.
Sponsors of the Pick.Click.Give. statewide outreach campaign include Alaska Children’s Trust, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Atwood Foundation, BP Alaska, ConocoPhillips Alaska, ExxonMobil, Mat-Su Health Foundation, Northrim Bank, Providence Health and Services Alaska, Rasmuson Foundation, Wells Fargo, Flint Hills Resources, Doyon, Ltd., and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.
In-kind support has been provided by Alaska Aces, Alaska Club, Alaska Public Radio Network, Coast Alaska and Alaska One, Spawn (Nerland Agency), Regal Entertainment Group/CIRI, and MSI Communications.
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