As Colorado Gives Day 2012 moved into its final hours, it had matched its goal of raising $13 million in 24 hours for the 1,200 nonprofit organizations registered for the fundraising venture. And there were still four hours left to go.
The money started rolling in immediately after the portal opened at the stroke of midnight Tuesday. For the third year, the made the first donation, and by 9 a.m., $5 million was in hand.
At 8 p.m., $13 million had been received from 57,000 donations.
” ‘Give where you live’ certainly resonates with Coloradans,” said Marla J. Williams, Community First Foundation’s president and chief executive.
Presented by the and , Colorado Gives Day began in 2010 with the goal of raising $1 million in a 24-hour period. In the end, $9 million was received. Response was so great in 2011, when $12.8 million was raised for 928 charitable organizations, that the giving portal crashed from sheer volume.
Scattered reports of difficulty logging onto were received in the early hours this year but were quickly resolved.
Success stories poured in throughout the day.
, for example, hoped to get $10,000 to help its elderly and disabled clients safety-proof their homes. That amount was raised by 3 p.m.
used social media to mobilize a “power hour” of giving. Executive director Jami Duffy asked supporters to pause at 5 p.m. to call, text or e-mail five friends who would in turn donate $10 each between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.
“Five friends at 5, $10 bucks at 10. Call it a social experiment or a race against the clock,” she said. “If we can get 100 people to participate, that means an additional 5,000 smackeroos for our youths.”
