COLUMBUS, Ohio – With creative marketing, a tight timeline and nods to local pride, the plea — pick a central Ohio nonprofit organization and donate within 24 hours — persuaded charity-minded people to part with a total of $15 million.
That set a new record for the Columbus Foundation’s Big Give, a one-day philanthropic rally that wrapped up Wednesday morning.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
Foundation officials said donors contributed online at a brisk pace: More than $1.6 million had flowed to area charities during the first hour Tuesday morning; by the event’s close on Wednesday, donations were up 40 percent over the last Big Give.
That event, in 2013, brought in $10.6 million. The first such effort, in 2011, resulted in donations of $8.5 million.
The Columbus Foundation has been a pioneer in online giving campaigns, said Lisa Courtice, the executive vice president for community research and grants management. “We were the second community foundation to do this kind of online giving event. Since then, it’s become a community-foundation phenomenon.”
Through the Trinity Foundation, a supporting foundation of The Columbus Foundation, George Skestos donated $100,000 to the bonus pool in the final minutes to put the total over $15 million and increase the bonus pool to $1.4 million, the largest ever.
The Big Give was created by foundation in 2011 and the three Big Give events, held in 2011, 2013, and this week, have brought in a total of $34.1 million for central Ohio nonprofits.