Area nonprofit organizations raised more than $330,000 for Giving Tuesday in 2020, according to results announced by the Greater Toledo Community Foundation.
Local nonprofits reported receiving a total of $323,438 on Giving Tuesday, marked since 2012 on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. That amount, plus $10,000 provided by the foundation to fund $5,000 grants to two local nonprofits, put the total funds raised at more than $333,000.
“This was a difficult year for fundraising because many events were canceled for COVID,” foundation spokesman Joanne Olnhausen said. “This is a great result that speaks to the generosity of our community.”
Organizers are sure that even more money was raised, because just 65 of at least 99 participating organizations submitted their reports, Ms. Olnhausen said.
The two nonprofit agencies that each received $5,000 were randomly drawn from a list of nonprofits that participated in #GivingTuesdayNWO 2020 and reported their results.
Autism Model School, a Toledo school for the autistic, won the drawing for large organizations while Joyful Connections — an Oak Harbor, Ohio nonprofit that allows parents and children to maintain connections after contentious divorces, custody battles, and other situations — was the small-organization winner.
Tami Matthews, interim director of Joyful Connections, said the money will be likely used to help clients pay their fees.
“It's going to be a very, very big help,” Ms. Matthews said. “We are a very small agency and this is a monumental gift for us.”
Giving Tuesday was created by New York's 92nd Street YMCA and the United Nations in response to commercialism and consumerism to encourage people to donate their unspent money to nonprofit organizations in their communities.
The Greater Toledo Community Foundation, in partnership with The Blade and The Center for Nonprofit Resources, introduced #GivingTuesdayNWO in 2013 to encourage nonprofits to establish online giving programs and donors to make local giving a priority. For the eighth year, local nonprofits have benefited from the campaign, according to the foundation.
The 2021 edition of #GivingTuesdayNWO is scheduled for Nov. 30.
First Published January 17, 2021, 12:39 a.m.
