WILLIAMSPORT - The inaugural Raise the Region online fundraising campaign raised more than $700,000 for 161 nonprofit organizations in a six-county area.
Sponsored by the First Community Foundation Partnership (FCFP) of Pennsylvania, the 24-hour campaign ended at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday with 4,306 monetary donations of $25 or more that totaled $726,827.
Central Susquehanna Opportunities (CSO) Inc. and the Northumberland County Council of the Arts and Humanities (NCCAH), did very well in the final count.
Bolstered by events at several local businesses, CSO finished with $9,391 from 75 donations. NCCAH received 23 donations totaling $4,205. But that's not all they'll get.
NCCAH was also the recipient of an extra $1,000 Powerful Communities prize, one part of the $37,500 in incentive prizes that were donated by Autotrakk prepaid transportation and Larson Design Group. FCFP officials were still verifying some gifts and said a complete list of prizes awarded and totals would be made available Monday.
Also, all of the organizations involved will receive a $125,000 matching gift donated by part of Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships. To distribute that money equally, a pro-rated match was being calculated that, unofficially, will give organizations 17 cents for every dollar they raised through the event.
Based on its totals, that would give CSO another $1,596.47, raising its total to $10,987.47. NCCAH would receive another $684.25, which, with its incentive prizes, gives it an unofficial grand total of $5,709.25.
The foundation, whose slogan is "Creating Powerful Communities Through Passionate Giving," described Raise the Region as a unique event "that provides an opportunity for people who care about their community to come together and raise as much money as possible for local nonprofits in 24 hours."
FCFP primarily serves Lycoming, Montour and Union counties, but included Columbia, Northumberland and Snyder counties for this event on behalf of Alexander, which has dealerships in all six counties.