North Texans Get Up and Give - Leader November 2011

The third annual North Texas Giving Day on September 15 generated about 13,500 donations worth more than $10.7 million. That amount is double the total raised during last year’s “Get Up and Give” event. Altogether, the three annual giving days have produced more than $19 million in charitable gifts to local nonprofits.

“We’re excited to see that the event keeps growing and growing,” said Mary M. Jalonick, president of The Dallas Foundation. “It’s been far more popular and successful than we had ever imagined.”

The event encourages North Texans to use DonorBridge, an online database with detailed profiles of more than 700 local nonprofit agencies. Developed by Communities Foundation of Texas in partnership with The Dallas Foundation and the Center for Nonprofit Management, the website debuted in 2009.

This year, The Dallas Foundation sponsored five $10,000 prizes. The recipients were:

·     Wesley Prep, a private pre-K through sixth grade school in Dallas. It received a prize for the largest amount of money raised on giving day – more than $375,000.

·     Buckner International, a Dallas-based global ministry that serves orphans and at-risk children. It won a prize for the most individual donations (224) to a nonprofit with an operating budget over $1 million.

·     Parkinson Voice Project, which helps people overcome Parkinson’s-related voice disorders. It received a prize for the most individual donations (134) to an organization with an operating budget under $1 million.

·     Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County, which provides food and shelter to homeless individuals and families. It won $10,000 for receiving the 1,929th gift of the day, a gift that honors the year The Dallas Foundation was founded.

·     Interfaith Housing Coalition (IHC), which serves working, impoverished families who face housing crises. It won a prize for receiving the 2,011th gift of the day – a gift made by an agency employee.

“We recently changed our programs to make sure when clients leave, they are better able to achieve real self-sufficiency,” said Ashley Holm, IHC’s director of outcomes and research. “This money will go a long way to helping us meet the goals we laid out.”

For more information about the 2011 “Get Up and Give!” event or DonorBridge, please visit donorbridgetx.org.