Big Day of Giving 2019 raises record $8.4 million

Thank you for your generosity!

Friday, May 3, 2019

During this year's Big Day of Giving, nonprofits in the Sacramento region raised nearly $8.4 million from over 23,000 donors who gave 44,000 donations, exceeding the $7.4 million raised last year and bringing the total generated since the inception of this annual giving day to nearly $40 million.

Read this year's Report to the Community

“Our community came together to celebrate the nonprofits that strengthen our region and build a better Sacramento area for everyone who lives here,” said Linda Beech Cutler, chief executive of the Foundation, which has organized the day-long giving challenge since its beginning in 2013, when research demonstrated local philanthropy lagged national averages.

“When we launched Big Day of Giving, we aimed to grow giving in the capital area by making philanthropy something everyone in our community feels they can do. All these years later, it is incredibly heartening to see a philanthropic spirit thriving,” said Cutler.

“This community-wide movement is successful when the people who live here make a difference by chipping in to give back—during Big Day of Giving and every other day of the year, too,” she said, noting that the majority of the donations made through the Big Day of Giving website yesterday were under $50.

In all, nonprofits in the capital area generated $8,357,897* on May 2, and each of the 601 participating nonprofits received donations.

The organizations that topped the leaderboard represent a breadth of nonprofit sectors—the arts, human services, youth development, the environment, and animal services:

• Crocker Art Museum ($227,800)
• Volunteers of America Northern CA and Northern NV ($208,553)
• The First Tee of Greater Sacramento ($149,426)
• Placer Land Trust ($140,589)
• Sacramento SPCA ($117,744)

The amount each participating nonprofit raised is available to view on the website.

Along with helping nonprofits raise much-needed funds, the Foundation offers a robust training program to help build the capacity of participating nonprofits in areas such as donor engagement, board development, collaboration, marketing outreach, and storytelling prior to Big Day of Giving.

Learn more about Big Day of Giving

“Big Day of Giving has been essential to our work,” said Nicholas Haystings, Executive Director of Square Root Academy, which raised $8,335 on May 2 to fund the free STEM education it offers in underserved Sacramento neighborhoods. “We are a relatively new organization, so the Big Day of Giving networking and skill-building trainings have been essential to helping our small staff engage new supporters and grow interest in our programs—which means we can focus more on growing our impact.”

Gifts made during Big Day of Giving 2019 will fund diverse services throughout the region. Along with Square Root Academy’s classes, Big Day of Giving donations will make possible Runnin’ For Rhett’s purchase of 682 pairs of running shoes to educate area youth about the value of living a healthy lifestyle. Donations will also fund 14 weeks of Food Literacy Center’s classes at a local school, and ensure thousands of high school baseball players can access Keep Playing Baseball’s resources to succeed as collegiate student-athletes.

Nonprofit organizations held more than 100 events throughout the region to promote their missions and generate donations on Big Day of Giving, many of which were the result of collaborations between multiple participating organizations and local businesses. Creating alliances like these among nonprofits is a key goal of the Foundation’s initiative to strengthen the nonprofit sector, Expanding Philanthropy and the Social Economy.

Learn more about our work to grow philanthropy

In addition to Big Day of Giving donations raised off of the website and during events, many participating nonprofits raised pools of match funds to motivate day-of gifts; this year, organizations raised almost $1.5 million in matching funds.

Donors who gave through Donor Advised Funds at the Foundation and its partner, Yolo Community Foundation, made a significant impact during this year's giving day, too. In all, gifts from Foundation fundholders totaled $758,290 of the final tally.

Learn more about our philanthropic services

Big Day of Giving was made possible with lead sponsorship by Western Health Advantage, in addition to the generosity of its other community partners.

To learn more about Big Day of Giving, please visit www.bigdayofgiving.org, and follow it on Facebook and Twitter.