Skip to main contentHow can we hug all 3,098 of you who so generously supported the nonprofits in Willamette Week's 2009 Give!Guide? When we started this annual effort in 2004 to raise money for local nonprofits, we were thrilled to collect $22,000.
This year, between Nov. 11, 2009, and midnight, Dec. 31, you gave 918,094.20 to 79 local nonprofits, shattering last year's mark by more than $100,000, despite the still-brutal economy.
And how can we thank the hundreds of local volunteers, staffers and business partners who helped make this year's effort the biggest in Give!Guide's six-year history? Here's one way we're going to try:
This Friday night, Jan. 15, we're putting on a great FREE show at Berbati's Pan. Each of you who gave can get priority admission by bringing your digital coupon to our office at 2220 NW Quimby St. by 5 pm Thursday, Jan. 14, and we'll give you a pass. All the while, we'll stay busy delivering your incentives and prizes.
So thank you. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for looking out for your fellow Portlanders. And thank you for being good citizens. As the Skidmore Fountain acknowledges: You are the riches of this city. When it comes to riches, consider yourselves in good company:
First, there are the winners of this year's Skidmore Prizes. The $4,000 awards, sponsored by Momentum Market Intelligence, are granted each year to four Portlanders younger than 36 who do fabulous work at low pay for local nonprofits. This year's winners are Fowzia Abdulle (advocate and case manager with Bradley Angle House's Healing Roots program), Jennifer Gilmore (lawyer at Child Centered Solutions), Amy Sacks (Pixie Project founder) and Brandi Tuck (executive director of Goose Hollow Family Shelter).
Next, there are the amazing companies who chipped in this year with characteristic generosity: Bank of America helped reduce the fees we pay on donations and provided a secure depository for your funds. Signature Graphics printed the guide. OakTree Digital produced the website most of you used to donate, gave us useful social media tools to promote giving, and handled questions from donors. ER Wine Shop on Southwest Macadam Avenue, Peet's Coffee Tea, Ninkasi Brewing Company, Stash Tea and the Oregon Lottery provided this year's bigger incentives—and given how many of you made large donations, their contributions were huge. Big ups also to our attorneys at Davis, Wright Tremaine and our accountants at Thompson, Kessler, Wiest Borquist, who provided direct financial support.
Then, there are our pals who participated in the Give!Guide Roll of Honor: Alaska Airlines, IKEA, New Seasons Market (which also gave us great reusable bags to package up the bigger incentives for delivery), Comcast, the Oregon Community Foundation and Umpqua Bank.
Finally, there's the team here at WW who helped choose the Skidmore winners and Give!Guide participants and put together the guide itself: Christie Wright, Mike Perrault, Kendra Clune, Jess Sword, Kat Merck, Matt Buckingham, Hank Stern, Ben Waterhouse, Andrea Manning and G!G executive director Megan Brescini.
Thanks again to all of you for supporting Portland's nonprofit community. What say we do this again later this year?
Richard H. Meeker, Publisher
The History
Give!Guide donations
In 2004: $22,000
In 2005: $78,000
In 2006: $248,397
In 2007: $534,084
In 2008: $806,582
Winners
To the Bus Project Foundation: A $1,000 check from WW for getting the largest number of donations from Portlanders younger than 36—138.
To Planned Parenthood of the Columbia-Willamette: A $1,000 check from WW for raising the most money this year—$56,020.
Neighborhood Challenge
This year, we tracked donations by location with a pie chart on the Give!Guide's website. The winner? Southeast Portland, which provided 24 percent of the Give!Guide's total.
The Numbers
Donors younger than 36: 1,136
Percent of donors younger than 36: 36.7 percent*
Average per donor: $296
Largest single donation from an individual: $25,000
* The percentage of donors younger than 36 is the smallest percentage from that age group since the guide began in 2004, and the average donation from this cohort was about half the average for the guide itself. Clearly, the economy is hitting our younger readers hardest. We thank those of you who gave notwithstanding the recession, and we hope the local economy in general and job opportunities in particular improve this year.
Give! Guide Donation Totals By Dollar Amount
Planned Parenthood Columbia-Willamette 57,020.60
Cat Adoption Team 41,644.40
Sisters of the Road 33,670.00
Mercy Corps 33,387.38
Bicycle Trans. Alliance 33,385.76
Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon 32,714.40
Community Cycling Ctr 30,380.00
Child Centered Solutions 29,205.00
North by Northeast 26,536.00
Habitat for Humanity 25,496.00
Wallace Medical Concern 24,811.00
p:ear 17,675.00
Portland Youth Builders 15,795.00
The Library Foundation 15,086.00
Oregon Wild 14,431.00
REACH Community Development 14,303.00
Literary Arts 12,565.00
Friends of Trees 12,020.00
Growing Gardens 11,932.00
KBOO - 90.7 FM 11,875.00
Ecotrust 10,830.00
1000 Friends of Oregon 10,430.00
SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) 10,365.00
Goose Hollow Family Shelter9,821.00
Dress for Success Oregon9,732.00
Community Warehouse 9,191.00
Urban Gleaners 9,060.00
Bradley Angle 8,935.00
Morrison Child and Family Services 8,752.00
Audubon Society of Portland8,238.00
NW Documentary 8,231.00
Independent Publishing Resource Center 8,131.00
Raphael House of Portland 8,021.00
Animal Aid Inc. 8,012.33
Portland Women's Crisis Line7,291.00
Children's Cancer Association7,280.00
Street Roots7,183.00
Impact NW 6,855.00
The Bus Project Foundation 7,854.00
Write Around Portland 6,389.00
Schoolhouse Supplies 6,385.00
Ethos Music Center 6,050.00
Project POOCH5,920.00
Cascade AIDS Project (CAP)5,570.00
Basic Rights Education Fund5,510.00
Self Enhancement Inc. 5,460.00
Potluck in the Park 5,440.00
Portland Parks Foundation5,410.00
Northwest Dance Project 5,290.00
Classroom Law Project 5,115.00
The Giving Tree5,037.00
Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls 4,960.00
White Bird 4,929.00
The Pixie Project4,835.00
Zenger Farm 4,780.00
Live!Wire Radio 4,700.00
Free Geek 4,085.00
The Dougy Center 3,975.00
Human Solutions 3,955.00
Tryon Life Community Farm3,908.33
The Pangaea Project3,868.00
North Portland Tool Library 3,855.00
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Columbia NW 3,635.00
Returning Veterans Project (RVP) 3,531.00
Newspace3,265.00
Street Yoga 2,576.00
Wordstock 2,510.00
G.R.U.N.T. 2,505.00
SMYRC 2,455.00
The Circus Project 2,430.00
ChristieCare 2,425.00
PDX Pop Now!2,244.00
Community Alliance of Tenants 2,185.00
Oregon Active Foundation2,115.00
Chess for Success 2,080.00
Oregon Children's Theatre 1,926.00
Girls Inc of NW Oregon 1,785.00
Urban Opp./Oregon Outreach Inc 985.00
Oregon Cultural Trust 105,871.00
TOTALS $918,094.20
To participate in
or nominate a candidate for a
: Look at wweek.com/giveguide beginning July 1. Through the end of July, we'll be posting the relevant nomination and application forms.
WWeek 2015