Great Give 2019 Breaks Fundraising Record for New Haven Area Nonprofits

A record-breaking total of $1.8 million was raised as a result of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s tenth annual community-wide online giving event known as The Great Give.

The 36 hour event, held in early May, was created to benefit local nonprofits serving The Foundation’s 20-town area in central Connecticut. In this record-breaking year, 12,000 donors gave to support 391 participating organizations. The Great Give 2019 theme - Let’s Do This Together – was described as a call to Greater New Haven’s citizens to “unite in achieving a common goal of strengthening the region’s nonprofits and advancing their missions.”

“Our Great Give event is all about people in this community supporting the things they value most. Great organizations doing great work. Thousands and thousands of local people benefit from the funds raised by and for local nonprofits as a result of The Great Give,” said William W. Ginsberg, president and CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. “These additional resources are especially needed in this time of reduced State support for social services that are typically provided by community-based nonprofits.”

As in past years, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the event’s creator, matched donations on a pro-rated basis, and together with several other organizations supported the event by providing $217,000 in matching funds and prizes for participating nonprofits. 

In addition, a number of nonprofit organizations were recognized with monetary awards. Grand prizes were awarded in tiers to the nonprofits that attracted the greatest number of donors (Elm City Internationals [$15,000], Music Haven [$7,500], Elm City Montessori School [$5,000], Greater New Haven Community Chorus [$3,000] and New Haven Land Trust [$2,000]) and the greatest number of new donors (Hamden High School Music Parent’s Association [$10,000], Havenly [$5,000], District Innovation and Venture Center [$3,000], CitySeed [$2,000] and Institute Library [$1,000]).

The top three organizations to receive Grand Prizes for attracting the most new donors were new participants of The Great Give in 2019. The Great Give provided a platform for these newcomers to strengthen their presence in the community and grow their donor base. A new prize was created in 2019 to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of The Great Give®; this 10x Prize was awarded to Whitney Players [$10,000].

Other prizes were awarded to the organization with the highest number of Peer-to-Peer fundraisers (Shelton High School Robotics Team [$3,000] and Branford Early Learning Center [$1,500]). Based on staff size, five organizations were awarded $3,000 each for the most money raised: New Haven Chorale, Shoreline Village, Elm Shakespeare, Center Stage, and IRIS – Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services.

Returning Great Give sponsors included Valley Community Foundation, Bank of America Charitable Foundation, KeyBank Foundation, Liberty Bank Foundation, BAD SONS Beer Co., and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. New prize sponsors for 2019 included Branford Community Foundation, Guilford Foundation, GHP Inc. in West Haven, Zoi’s New Haven and The Fat Robin Wild Bird & Nature Shop in Hamden. Mosaic Marketing in Branford and R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison actively promoted the event as Ambassadors of The Great Give® 2019.

The Valley Community Foundation (VCF), the event’s second largest sponsor, committed $26,500 in matching funds and prizes designed to encourage residents and workers in the five Valley towns of Ansonia, Derby Oxford, Seymour and Shelton to give locally.

The Great Give is the annual online giving event through giveGreater.org, a local resource for learning and giving created in 2010 by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to increase philanthropy in the Greater New Haven region of South Central Connecticut.

Since its beginning, giveGreater.org has distributed approximately $9.8 Million to local nonprofits as a result of direct contributions on the site and giving day challenges. Donors wishing to support their favorite cause or charity can visit giveGreater.org to find information on nonprofits serving Greater New Haven and the Valley. 

The Community Foundation “helps build a stronger community by leading on issues and supporting donors and nonprofits in creating a community of opportunity for all.” The Foundation’s 20-town service area includes: Ansonia, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Wallingford, West Haven, Woodbridge.

For more information about The Community Foundation, visit www.cfgnh.org,