Day of Giving in 2013 aims to top record contributions received last year

By Staff October 2, 2013, 7:24 pm 0 Edit

More than 650 nonprofit organizations, including 19 Jewish entities, are participating in The Pittsburgh Foundation’s fifth annual Day of Giving, Thursday, Oct. 3.

More than $8.5 million was raised last year for the region’s nonprofits, and since the launch of the program in 2009, the Day of Giving events have raised over $21 million for local charitable organizations.

Among the Jewish nonprofits, BBYO Keystone Mountain Region is participating for the first time this year.

Also participating are:

Agency for Jewish Learning, Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, Hadassah Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, Hillel Jewish University Center, Jewish Assistance Fund, Jewish Association on Aging, Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Residential Services, JFilm: The Pittsburgh Jewish Film Forum of the Federation, Kollel Jewish Learning Center, National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh Section, Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival of the Federation, Rodef Shalom Congregation, Temple Emanual of South Hills and Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha Congregation.

“When we first launched this event, none of us envisioned the success it would become, not only here in Pittsburgh but also in serving as a model for similar initiatives that have been introduced by a number of our community foundation colleagues across the United States,” the Pittsburgh Foundation’s President and CEO Grant Oliphant said in a prepared statement.

For this year’s Day of Giving, the match pool for Allegheny County is expected to be approximately $750,000, and for Westmoreland approximately $95,000, both similar to 2012. This year, to ensure “a robust match percentage for participating nonprofits,” the Foundation has determined that only the first $1,000 per individual per organization will be eligible to receive matching dollars from the match pools. In previous years, the cap was $10,000.

For last year’s Day of Giving, the match pool awarded 10.5 cents on every dollar received by nonprofits in Allegheny County. In Westmoreland, which had a separate match pool, the match was 14 cents on the dollar.

“Our primary goals in launching this initiative were to help nonprofits increase the number of donors to their organizations, to help them grow individual giving and support using social media tools and to build a database of nonprofits to serve as a research resource for our community,” Oliphant said. “I am delighted that the success of the program has extended well beyond our initial objectives.”

PittsburghGives may be accessed at: pittsburghgives.org and WestmorelandGives at westmorelandgives.org.