Posted on October 16, 2010

Pittsburgh Foundation Raises $3.3 Million During Online Giving Day Event

The Pittsburgh Foundation has announced that it raised $3.3 million for local nonprofits during its Day of Giving on October 13, including $500,000 in matching funds from the foundation.

Over a twenty-four-hour period, more than seven thousand individual contributions were made through the foundation's PittsburghGives Web site, with gifts ranging from the $25 minimum to a single donation of $49,000. The matching funds were provided by the Pittsburgh Foundation, the foundation-administered Jack Buncher Charitable Trust, and an anonymous donor. Other local funding partners included the Heinz Endowments and the Buhl, Benedum, and Grable foundations.

Last year, the foundation launched its inaugural Match Day, which raised nearly $1.5 million from approximately nine hundred individual donors, of which $1 million was received within 23 minutes of the start of the event to qualify for the match. This year, the foundation restructured the event with additional matching funds, a full day to qualify for matching dollars, improved technology, and significantly reduced credit card fees.

"Our main objectives were to encourage engagement and support for our region's nonprofit organizations and to promote individual charitable giving in our community," said Pittsburgh Foundation president and CEO Grant Oliphant. "The results speak for themselves, and once again Pittsburghers have demonstrated what they are best at: caring for others and supporting the many causes that make our city great."