December 30 and 31 Busiest Days of the Year for Online Giving

SEATTLE, Dec. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With Seattle ranking high in many national lists for philanthropy, we can expect local residents to be very busy this week with their year-end charitable giving, particularly online contributions to organizations addressing basic needs and international causes.

According to a seven-year study by Network for Good of online-giving behavior, 22 percent of all online gifts to charities are made in the last two days of the year.  These two days of giving cap off the month of December when charities receive one-third of all their online donations. 

"Online giving continues to grow rapidly and not surprisingly, Seattle is one of the most generous online cities," said Norman B. Rice, president and chief executive officer of The Seattle Foundation, which has a comprehensive giving center on its website.  Based on a study conducted in 2010 by leading online software fundraising vendor Convio, Seattle was ranked as the fourth most generous online city, topped only by Alexandria, VA, Cambridge, MA and Arlington, VA. 

"King County is one of the nation's leading technology hubs so it's natural we'd be at the forefront of this increasingly popular channel for philanthropy," Rice added. Research by Bundle.com in 2010 recognized Seattle as the nation's second most charitable city. 

People interested in finding organizations and causes to support have a very useful resource in The Seattle Foundation's website, which offers a directory of more than 1,200 nonprofits serving King County. The site makes available for the first time The Seattle Foundation's internal evaluations of nonprofit organizations, helping people to make the wisest decisions possible with their giving dollars.  At the website's "Giving Center," people can search nonprofits, the vast majority in King County, to find groups that best match their interests by mission, geography, clients served and other criteria. A search of nonprofits for the topic "housing," for example, can be refined to organizations specifically supporting homeless individuals with special needs on the Eastside.  

In June 2011, The Seattle Foundation organized "GiveBIG," a day-long online giving campaign that asked King County residents to visit www.seattlefoundation.org and donate to their favorite nonprofit organizations.  People made more than 18,000 online gifts totaling $3.6 million for GiveBIG, and those donations were matched with an additional $500,000 from The Seattle Foundation and local companies and philanthropists.

Established in 1946, The Seattle Foundation's mission is to create a healthy community through engaged philanthropy, community knowledge and leadership. It is the oldest and largest community foundation in the region, with more than 1,200 family and individual funds and assets of more than $600 million. The Seattle Foundation awards more than $50 million in grants each year. Learn more about the Foundation and visit the Giving Center at www.seattlefoundation.org.

SOURCE The Seattle Foundation

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