Great Give® 2017 raises nearly $1.3M for area nonprofits

The Great Give® 2017, an online giving event, raised nearly $1.3 million for nonprofits serving the 20 municipalities in the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s service area, according to a foundation press release.

The money will help The Community Foundation replenish its endowment, the release said, which awards grants and other aid to nonprofits in the cities and towns of Ansonia, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Wallingford, West Haven and Woodbridge. Last year, the foundation distributed more than $21 million in Greater New Haven, the release said.

The Great Give®, which took place May 2 and 3 this year, is an annual online giving event as well as a local resource for learning about the work of more than 380 nonprofits in the area. The Give® was created in 2010 by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to increase philanthropy and heighten awareness of the issues, causes and opportunities affecting the New Haven area, according to the release.

To encourage giving, a total of $183,000 in prorated matching funds and prizes was provided by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and presenting sponsors including the Valley Community Foundation, Alexion Pharmaceuticals ($2,500 Education Prize to Neighborhood Music School; $2,500 Health Prize to Home Haven), Liberty Bank Foundation ($3,000 Greater New Haven Prize to Neighborhood Housing Services; $2,000 Valley Prize to TEAM Inc.) , iMission Institute ($1,000 Prize to Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven for boosting economic success) and Pirie Associates Architects ($2,250 Prize for Social and Environmental Justice to New Haven Farms). In addition, prizes were awarded to nonprofits for the largest single gift received, first time and repeat donation increases, staff size, greatest percentage of increase in donors, and dollars raised, as well as randomly drawn prizes throughout the event.

The Valley Community Foundation, the secondlargest sponsor of the event, provided additional prizes to nonprofits in the five Valley towns. Of the total $1.3 million, more than $233,500 was donated this year by Valley residents, workers and others. VCF grand prize winners will be announced at the annual Ice Cream Social from 4 to 6 p.m. May 25 at St. Mary the Immaculate Conception fellowship hall, 212 Elizabeth St., Derby. To learn more about the Valley Community Foundation, call 203-751-9162.