With only 11 days left in its 2016 campaign, The GoodGiving Guide Challenge has raised just under $700,000 for 120 nonprofit organizations in central and eastern Kentucky.
To date, the top money-raisers in the small, medium and large nonprofit categories all hail from outside of Fayette County, according to the running tally posted on the campaign’s donation website, bggives.org.
In the large nonprofit category, Saint Agatha Academy, the oldest private school in Winchester, Ky., has raised the most money overall, at $22,250. Fundraising in the medium-sized nonprofit category was led by the Community Arts Center of Danville, Ky., which had raised $18,495. The Clark County Homeless Coalition topped the list in the small nonprofit category, with $10,797 raised.
The campaign is designed specifically to encourage contributions to local nonprofits from a wider audience of potential supporters, with a website tailored to allow donors to support one or more regional charities of their choice easily with donations of any amount. As of 11 a.m. on December 20, the site had collected 3,532 separate donations from 2,336 unique donors, totaling $694,470.
Launched in 2011 as a partnership of the Blue Grass Community Foundation and Smiley Pete Publishing, the GoodGiving Challenge has raised more than $5.5 million for Kentucky charities, with last year’s campaign alone topping $1.34 million. In addition to raising money from donors, participating charities also have the opportunity to compete for $5,000 in endowment prizes.
For those interested in learning more and supporting their local nonprofits, the campaign will collect donations through December 31. To learn more about the charities involved in the campaign or to make a donation, sign on to the website, bggives.org.