COLUMBUS – The fourth Big Give was the biggest ever.
Preliminary results show the 26-hour fundraising event organized by the Columbus Foundation raised $18 million for more than 900 nonprofit groups in 10 counties, 20 percent more than the last event held in 2015.
“We have just shown central Ohio at its best with this historic moment in charitable giving event,” said foundation president and CEO Douglas Kridler.
A record number of donations, 30,306, were received from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and seven countries.
Each donation was matched from a “bonus pool” of over $1.4 million and all credit card fees were covered by foundation, so 100 percent of donations will go directly to the 906 nonprofits.
For the first time, The Big Give was expanded beyond Franklin County to include Delaware, Fairfield, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, and Union. The nine additional counties received over $1 million to benefit 195 nonprofits.
The Big Give was created by The Columbus Foundation in 2011 and has leveraged $52.2 million for local nonprofits so far.