[November 16, 2012]

Minnesotans Smash State and National Giving Records - Donors Raise $16 Million for Local Nonprofit Organizations and Schools During Fourth Annual Give to the Max Day

Give to the Max Day, Minnesota's annual 24-hour philanthropic marathon, raised $16,391,905 for 4,381 local nonprofits and schools, breaking the previous state and national records for charitable giving. More than 53,000 people logged on to www.GiveMN.org to donate to their favorite nonprofits and schools, hoping that matching grants and prize money could further their charitable contributions. During last year's Give to the Max Day, 47,534 donors raised $13.4 million for 3,978 nonprofit organizations.

Among these incentives were Leaderboard Grants including the top prizes of $12,500, $5,000 and $2,500 which were given to the nonprofit organizations and colleges that received the most dollars during Give to the Max Day in their respective categories. This year, the following organizations took home the top leadership prizes:

In addition, donations from one nonprofit donor and one school donor were randomly selected each hour and given the "Golden Ticket," which tacked on an additional $1,000 to their original contributions. Two supersized "Golden Tickets" worth $10,000 were awarded after the event, significantly boosting two lucky individuals' gifts, benefiting Cannon River STEM School and Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota.

"People across our state know that when we all pitch in, great things happen," said Dana Nelson, executive director of GiveMN. "Give to the Max Day has become a celebration of Minnesota's philanthropic spirit and nonprofits have done an excellent job of embracing the day."

Give to the Max Day was created three years ago to increase charitable donations statewide by engaging as many donors as possible in a single day. This pioneering idea was made possible by GiveMN, a charitable giving website to help Minnesotans support their causes. This year, GiveMN improved convenience by adding mobile giving on smartphones and tablets, as well as scheduled donations, which allowed people to plan their Give to the Max Day donations in advance.

GiveMN is powered by Razoo, a critical partner in making Give to the Max Day a success. Based in Washington, D.C., Razoo is a venture funded social enterprise committed to transforming people's lives through meaningful giving. Its secure online platform facilitates crowdsourced fundraising, streamlines the donation process and offers a suite of free and easy-to-use fundraising tools that inspire individuals and nonprofits to give and fundraise online.

Special thanks to the Give to the Max Day sponsors, which include James L. Knight Foundation, Minnesota Community Foundation, The Mosaic Company and Youthprise.

About GiveMN
GiveMN is a collaborative venture to transform philanthropy in Minnesota by growing overall giving and moving more of it online. GiveMN is an independent 501(c) (3) organization that is a support organization of the Minnesota Community Foundation and an affiliate of Minnesota Philanthropy Partners. Many partners shaped GiveMN to build upon Minnesota's strong tradition of philanthropy, including: Blandin Foundation, The Otto Bremer Foundation, Bush Foundation, Central Minnesota Community Foundation, Ecolab Foundation, F.R. Bigelow Foundation, Greater Twin (News - Alert) Cities United Way, HealthPartners, Initiative Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation, The Mosaic Company, Northland Foundation, Northwest Minnesota Foundation, The Saint Paul Foundation, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Southwest Initiative Foundation, Target (News - Alert), UCare and West Central Initiative Foundation. For more information, visit www.GiveMN.org.

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