The Washington County Community Foundation (WCCF) has released the preliminary 2015 results of WCCF Gives, Washington County’s annual community-wide day of giving. More than $635,000 was contributed by the community, which was combined with the WCCF’s $100,000 bonus pool. As a result, more than $735,000 will be granted to participating charities – representing a 20% increase over last year in the total amount contributed.
Betsie Trew, President & CEO, noted that a new bonus pool distribution method created a strong incentive for charities to work to increase their number of donors. In previous years, the bonus pool funding was distributed based solely on the total dollars a charity received; this year, 50% of the bonus pool was distributed as before, and 50% was based upon the number of donors. “This change was made to help level the playing field for smaller charities who don’t have the ability to secure larger donations, and to reinforce to all charities the importance of building an ever-increasing base of donors,” Trew said. “The charities who recognized the opportunity provided by this change and took steps to capitalize on it, will be rewarded by larger bonus amounts than under our previous method.” Of the 91 charities that participated in both 2014 and 2015, more than one-third (36%) increased their number of donors by 50% or more.
