2018 Giving Challenge raises $11.7 million

After a whirlwind 24 hours, this year’s Giving Challenge concluded with a total of $11.7 million raised for 636 nonprofits in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.

Participants and partners of the Giving Challenge convened at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to count down the final moments of the fundraising event, which concluded at 11:59.59 a.m., Wednesday, May 2.

The fundraiser raised more than $6.1 million through 74,682 gifts from 49,207 donors, with an added $5 million in matching funding from The Patterson Foundation.

Donations were matched dollar for dollar by the Patterson Foundation, up to $100 per donor for each nonprofit they gave.

Participation increased by about 17% compared with the last Giving Challenge event in September 2016, which saw about 63,000 total gifts made by 45,206 donors. A total of $13.4 million was raised then. The event skipped 2017 in the process of shifting from September to May.

“I do believe, yet again, the Patterson Foundation helped inspire more donors to come to the table this year,” said Community Foundation president and CEO Roxie Jerde. “Across the nation, no one does what Patterson does to encourage and ignite more giving. It's almost like a movement in our community that makes it all special, the heartbeat of this marvelous community.”

Since the Community Foundation kicked off its first Giving Challenge in 2012, the annual event has raised more than $40 million total in unrestricted funding for participating nonprofits.

Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue received the highest number of gifts - 1,611- that raised $100,243. Cat Depot raised $112,019 through 1,239 gifts, the largest number of individual donations. 

“If we think about the six Giving Challenges that we've had, every single one of them of them has been crazy wonderful, but every year, they get more and more strategic and imaginative,” said Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation.