Give!Guide 2015 Final Report

WW readers—

As we've come to say in this space every January: You are nothing short of amazing.

By midnight Dec. 31, nearly 9,000 of you (8,885, to be exact) had contributed more than $3.5 million ($3,501,400, actually) to this company's annual effort to drive support for local nonprofits. Thousands of you contributed more than once.

Your donations represent an increase of more than 10 percent over last year. We couldn't be more excited about the ways your giving supports—and energizes—thousands of Portlanders who do so much good work in our community.

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The day before Christmas, The New York Times ran an op-ed piece by two University of British Columbia researchers who study high blood pressure in adults. Through an ingenious protocol, they've been able to demonstrate that spending money on others has the immediate effect of lowering blood pressure. (Not surprising: Buying things for yourself does not.) As the researchers note, the change in blood pressure matches "what is typically observed when people start engaging in regular aerobic exercise."

So here's hoping each of you gains all the physical—as well as the many psychic—benefits of your great generosity!

Every year, G!G generates its own set of fun facts. We're listing a few elsewhere on this page, in charticle format.

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There are also thanks to repeat, because WW's G!G could not exist without the great generosity of so many local businesses—too many to name here. Two head our list: Grady Britton, which produces and manages our website (and has provided many of these statistics), and Borders Perrin Norrander, which produced our first-ever marketing campaign ("Been a Little Bad? Do a Little Good"). Other special friends include A to Z Wineworks, Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, Bob's Red Mill, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Chinook Book, Revolution Hall/Mississippi Studios, and the Schlesinger Family Foundation. (For the full list of supporters, see giveguide.org.)

We plan to do this again later this year, with applications being taken during the month of June (also at giveguide.org). We'll be conducting a recap meeting with this year's participants at the beginning of next month, but we're always interested in improving our system. If you have thoughts or comments, please send them to Executive Director Nick Johnson (njohnson@wweek.com).

For now: Thank you, eight-thousand eight-hundred eighty-five times over.

Nicholas Johnson, Executive Director

Richard H. Meeker, Founder

PS: This week and next, WW publishes our annual Volunteer Guide. It's your chance to donate sweat equity, which is at least as valuable as your cash, to more than 60 great local nonprofits.

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