Centre Gives campaign surpassed last year’s total. Here’s how nonprofits made out

Centre County donated a record $1.439 million in gifts for this year’s 36-hour Centre Gives campaign — a total that surpassed last year’s donations of $1.42 million.

“Our community continues to amaze us with their generosity year after year,” Centre Foundation Executive Director Molly Kunkel said in a press release.

Centre Gives is a 36-hour online giving event set up by the Centre Foundation that helps support nonprofits serving Centre County.

“It’s such a great opportunity for all of the organizations, no matter what their type, as long as they’re a charitable organization, to really highlight the services they provide for the community,” Deputy Director Carrie Ryan said.

This year, Centre Foundation and the Hamer Foundation provided a $200,000 stretch pool to help gifts “go further” and $27,000 in prizes. Those prizes included:

• $1,000 gifts for large and small organizations for the most unique donations during the entire event: Centre County PAWS, ClearWater Conservancy, Centre Wildlife Care, Out of the Cold: Centre County, TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, Bellefonte Art Museum, Penns Valley Conservation Association, State College Food Bank, Centre Volunteers in Medicine and Schlow Library Foundation
• $500 gifts for organizations with the most unique donors during a designated hour: Schlow Library Foundation, Strawberry Fields, Inc., Performing Arts School of Central Pennsylvania, Centre County PAWS, Discovery Space, ClearWater Conservancy, TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, Nittany Valley Figure Skating Club, State College Area Roller Derby, Penns Valley Conservation Association, Bridge of Hope Centre County, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County and Mid-State Literacy Council, Inc.
• $500 gifts for some organizations with Centre Foundation endowment funds: Juniata Valley Council Boy Scouts, Nittany Valley Figure Skating Club, Centre LifeLink EMS and Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited
• $250 “last chance” prizes for organizations that hadn’t previously won a prize: Alzheimer’s Association, Nittany Greyhounds, Rock Hill School at Linden Hall and Pets Come First
• $250 randomly awarded to an organization participating in its first Centre Gives: Doing Good with Wood
• $250 for organizations that participated in the March Success Series trainings and Facebook challenges: Center for Alternatives in Community Justice, Centre County Library and Historical Museum, CommonFood, Inc., Easterseals Child Development Center, Strawberry Fields, Inc., Jana Marie Foundation and Happy Valley Animals in Need

This year, Centre Gives had 175 organizations participate — its highest number to date. Donors made 9,503 total gifts to nonprofits.

“I think (this year had more donations) because as each year goes on, more and more people find out about Centre Gives,” Ryan said.

The idea for Centre Gives came from Kunkel, who attended a community foundation conference several years ago and learned more about giving campaigns, said Ryan.

She thought, “we have a really giving community, let’s try it here and see if it can be successful,” she said.

Centre County was ranked as the eighth most giving county in Pennsylvania in 2016, based on an index of charitable donations as a part of income and the percentage of residents who make donations.

Since Centre Gives began in 2012, over $8.2 million has been invested into the local nonprofit network, which supports organizations in the areas of arts, animals, education, environment and health and social services.