The Great Give® 2014 Generates Three-Quarters of A Million Dollars for Greater New Haven Nonprofits

Arts & Culture and Basic Needs Top List for Donor Support

New Haven, CT (May 9, 2014) –The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven announces that more than $767,000 in gifts and matching funds will be distributed to nonprofits serving Greater New Haven thanks to the generosity of thousands of individuals who gave during The Great Give® 2014 between May 6-7. Money raised for nonprofits by category indicated a strong community interest in arts and culture organizations ($169,207), followed by nonprofits providing basic needs ($90,674), youth development ($85,735), health ($85,205) and education ($77,439) services. The greatest number of gifts came from individuals residing in New Haven (1268), followed by Shelton (359), Hamden (307) and Guilford (243), Connecticut. 

“The Great Give has become a key part of the local philanthropic landscape, creating once again a huge community-wide “buzz” and putting community nonprofit organizations foremost in the local consciousness for an intense thirty-six hour period,” said William W. Ginsberg, president & CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. “Our community responded in a huge way again, with more than three-quarters of a million dollars raised for local nonprofits from nearly 5800 gifts and thirty-two percent of donors reporting that they made a gift to an organization for the first time. Still, our work is not yet done.  There’s a big job ahead of us to analyze the results and take stock of what we learned this year so we can continue to refine this great event that boosts our local nonprofit sector.”

The Great Give® 2014 was held in conjunction with Give Local America, a national effort to create a community-wide giving day in celebration of 100 years of local philanthropy through the work of community foundations. More than $53 Million was raised as a result of Give Local America events occurring across the country.

As in years past, pro-rated matching funds and special grant prizes offered by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven for The Great Give® were used to incent giving. Early Bird Prizes of $500 were awarded to the first five organizations to raise $1,000 during the Challenge; the winners were Ansonia Public Schools – Human Relations Club, (LEAP) Leadership Education and Athletics in Partnership, Elm City ChamberFest, New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Elm Shakespeare Company. Grand Prizes were awarded to the nonprofits that raised the most money (Center Stage, $15,000), attracted the most number of donors (Music Haven, $5,000), and the greatest number of new donors (Elm City Internationals, $15,000; Greater New Haven Community Chorus, $5,000; Elm City ChamberFest, $3,000). New this year was a Grand Prize category for monthly gifts (Solar Youth, $5,000) designed to help organizations keep the donors they attract during this event. A list of prize winners is available at www.thegreatgive.org.

Additional prizes were offered by the Valley Community Foundation (VCF), Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Higher One CARES (Community Action for Resources Education and Service).

Results of the VCF Grand Prize winners will be announced on May 15 at a VCF ice cream social; to learn more, please contact the Valley Community Foundation at 203-751-9162.

Event sponsors Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Higher One CARES each provided special prizes by category. Alexion’s prize was awarded to the organization that attracted the greatest number of individual donors and worked in education (New Haven Reads, $2,500) and health (East Rock Village – Home Haven, $2,500) in New Haven.

“Alexion is grateful to partner with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in this creative way to support our local community,” Dan Caron, Vice President, Site Operations and Engineering, Alexion Pharmaceuticals.  

Higher One CARES, the community outreach group at Higher One, provided a prize to the education or youth development organization that attracted the greatest number of new donors (Elm City Internationals, $2,500). 

“Higher One CARES is delighted to learn that Elm City Internationals is the recipient of our $2500 prize as a result of their organization receiving the most new donors this year,” said Higher One CARES Communications Director Lauren Perry. “We are happy to back Elm City Internationals in their mentorship initiatives as the program is close to home for us, serving the New Haven community with a focus on education and youth empowerment.”

The Great Give® is the annual giving online event on giveGreater.org®, a local resource for learning and giving created in 2010 by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to increase philanthropy in the Greater New Haven region of South Central Connecticut. Donors wishing to support their favorite cause or charity can visit the giveGreater.org® to find information on more than 300 nonprofits, including their mission, governance, programs, financials and community impact. 

Thanks to the generosity of three generations of donors, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven provided approximately $22 million in grants and distributions in 2013 from an endowment of approximately $430 million and comprising hundreds of individually named funds. In addition to its grant-making, The Community Foundation helps build a stronger community by taking measures to improve student achievement, reduce New Haven’s infant mortality rate, promote local philanthropy through www.giveGreater.org and encourage community awareness at www.cfgnh.org/learn. The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s 20 town service area includes: Ansonia, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Wallingford, West Haven, Woodbridge. For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org, find us on Facebook atwww.facebook.org/cfgnh or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cfgnh.