More Than $1.6 Million in Donations Raised During Midlands Gives 2016

Preliminary results and prize winners announced for annual online giving challenge

May 6, 2016 (COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Thanks to an incredible groundswell of support from corporate partners, participating nonprofits and thousands of everyday philanthropists who made gifts, Central Carolina Community Foundation has announced preliminary results for Midlands Gives 2016 –12,536 donations totaling more than $1.6 million for 382 local nonprofits—surpassing last year’s totals in numbers of donations, dollars raised and participating nonprofit organizations.

These results were outstanding in light of the technical difficulties encountered. Starting in the 11:00 a.m. hour on May 3, the national online giving platform KIMBIA, through which Midlands Gives donations are processed, began experiencing severe issues due to hardware failures, affecting giving day users in more than 50 cities nationally. Central Carolina Community Foundation’s team responded by implementing their crisis plan from the Midlands Gives headquarters at Spirit Communications Park, the most technologically advanced minor league baseball stadium in the country. The team extended the giving deadline by 12 hours, to noon on May 4, and quickly built an alternate web page enabling donors to continue to give to their chosen charities.

“Our Foundation’s Board also moved quickly to keep giving momentum going. They approved the addition of two $2,000 Power Hours and elected to underwrite the KIMBIA processing fees that had not already been covered by donors. The estimated $15,000 in fee reimbursement will allow every nonprofit to maximize their donations,” said JoAnn Turnquist, President & CEO. “We are grateful for our board’s generosity.”

Central Carolina Community Foundation is committed to reconciling final results with accuracy, as this data is of the utmost importance to the participating nonprofits. The Foundation team is reconciling the donations from both giving platforms. The final totals—dollars raised, number of gifts, prizes and leaderboard results will be available on Midlands Gives dot org within 7 to 10 days.

“Some might say, ‘Our philanthropy broke the internet!’ We prefer to say we are #SCStrong,” said Turnquist. “Our nonprofits showed just how resilient they are, and their donors rallied behind them. We are grateful to live in a region where people genuinely care and give back to make the community we call home stronger—A Connected Community.”

Midlands Gives Background
In its third year, Midlands Gives – hosted by Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ expert on philanthropy – serves as a hub for donors to give online to 382 local nonprofits in the 11 Midlands counties served by the Foundation. In 2015, Midlands Gives raised an astonishing $1,543,032.65, via 11,372 individual gifts, toward 251 nonprofits. In 2014, the event’s inaugural year, $704,932.23 was raised, via 5,186 individual gifts, toward 150 nonprofits. Midlands Gives is one of almost 100 giving days that will be taking place in cities across America as part of Give Local America; in 2015, Midlands Gives ranked 7th in the nation in number of individual gifts.

About Central Carolina Community Foundation:
Central Carolina Community Foundation – the Midlands’ expert on philanthropy – is a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and area leaders to communities in need. Major initiatives include the Midlands Gives 24-hour giving challenge, Connected Communities grants, the One SC Fund, the Best of Philanthropy Awards, annual scholarships and more. For more information about the Foundation, visit Your Foundation dot org.

2711 Middleburg Drive, Columbia, SC 29204

This release was published on openPR.