Alaskans are donating over $2.2 million to nonprofits, University of Alaska campuses and community organizations with their 2012 Permanent Fund Dividend checks using the Pick.Click.Give program, according to a press release sent out Friday.
The online donation system was started in 2009, and each year has seen significant gains in the number of donors and amount donated. This year's campaign represented an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2011, with the number of donors increasing by 4,000 people and donations increasing by well over half a million dollars.
The charities receiving the most donations this year were Bean's Café, public radio stations KSKA, KAKM and APRN, Food Bank of Alaska, and Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue.
If the trend continues, 2013 will see even more participation, following the growth since the program's inception. In 2009, 5,500 people gave $545,000. In 2010, 9,500 Alaskans donated a total of $927,000. In 2011, 19,000 Alaskans raised $1.5 million, and even though this year's PFD was considered somewhat paltry, donations still increased to 23,000 participants gifting more than $2.2 million.
"The impact of donations from Pick. Click. Give. ripples through communities in many ways," Debbie Bitney, Director of the Permanent Fund Division, said. "More hungry families and children can be fed, more animals can be rescued, public broadcasting stations can enhance their service, more abused women and their children can be sheltered. There's a long list causes that are being served through the generosity of Alaskans who give through Pick. Click. Give."
Learn more about the program, here.