With record-setting generosity, 20,684 donors gave more than $8.9 million to local charities in 24 hours. It was part of Omaha Gives! (omahagives24.org), a 24-hour online fundraising day benefitting nonprofits in Douglas, Sarpy and Pottawattamie counties.
This is the third year of Omaha Gives!, and the numbers this year far exceeded last year’s record-setting figures. The 20,684 donors this year were over 2,500 more than last year, and the amount of money raised was a 41% increase over last year. The money benefits 704 local nonprofits.
The preliminary total of $8,907,974 includes $464,000 in Bonus Dollars and Prizes raised by the Omaha Community Foundation and additional Extra Bonus Dollars, incentives raised by individual nonprofits. The bonus dollars will be split between all the participating nonprofits, and prizes were awarded to nonprofits with the most donors and randomly selected donations.
The excitement over the community’s incredible generosity was tempered by the shooting death of an Omaha police officer. As a result, the Omaha Police Foundation (an Omaha Gives! participant) decided to give all of the money donated to Officer Kerrie Orozco’s family. They ended up with the highest number of total donors and more than $68,000 to donate to the officer’s family.
For full information on Omaha Gives!, including a leaderboard detailing which nonprofits had the most donors and which nonprofits raised the most money, visit omahagives24.org.