Skip to main content
Nearly $25 million: That's how much you, Portland's generous donors, have contributed to Willamette Week's Give!Guide since its inception in 2004.
From $25,253 that first year, your generosity has increased to nearly $4.25 million in each of the past two years.
You broke the $1 million mark in 2010, $2 million in 2013, $3 million in 2014, and $4 million in 2016. This year, you donated $4,209,824.
Your generosity is simply overwhelming. Most remarkable: During Give!Guide's 14-year existence, tens of thousands of you have participated in this effort.
You can find out what each nonprofit raised, who our business partners and sponsors are, and who won 2017 Skidmore Prizes at giveguide.org. You can't actually give again until next November, when we plan to run this celebration of Portland's nonprofit community for a 15th year. But you and family members can create a donor piggy bank and start saving to be ready.
We owe a bazillion thanks. First, of course, to you, Give!Guide's treasured supporters, but also to our business partners and sponsors who make valuable contributions to this effort, and to the participating nonprofits themselves. Without them, Portland couldn't be the place we all know and love.
A few concluding notes: We have begun making deliveries of incentives packages. It's a great way to reconnect with all corners of the city. It's also a joyous experience, as the folks we meet this way are eager to share the other ways they give of themselves and their time to support important communities here. It's just one more reminder of how fortunate we all are to live here.
Three cheers for Mahala Ray! Things went so smoothly it was hard to believe this was Mahala's first year as Give!Guide executive director. Most significant, she expanded our outreach to younger donors. (Special thanks if you are among them, as Give!Guide's No. 1 goal is to help build an annual giving habit in Portlanders under the age of 36.) We are delighted she will continue to head this effort and is eager to put what she's learned to work in the year ahead.
We are always looking for ways to improve the Give!Guide experience. As we do each year, we'll be convening a recap with participating nonprofits early next month. These meetings (and the surveys that precede them) always produce helpful suggestions. If you can think of anything we can do that would improve your experience, please let me (rmeeker@wweek.com) and/or Mahala (mray@wweek.com) know.
To sum up: Give!Guide is a true celebration of Portland's amazing nonprofit community. This year you've shown your appreciation for its great work nearly 35,000 times over. (Yes, that's how many individual donations you made.) We can't thank you enough. So pat yourselves on the back. We hope to see you at giveguide.org again next year.
RICHARD H. MEEKER, Founder
PS: This week, WW will publish our annual Volunteer Guide. This is your chance to donate some sweat equity—every bit as valuable as cash—to dozens of great local nonprofits. For more information, contact Matt Plambeck at mplambeck@wweek.com or 503-243-2122.
Give!Guide 2017 stats:
Total donated: $4,209,824
Total donors: 9,649
Donors under 36: 2,546
Total donations: 34,901
Average donation: $121
Quadrant of Portland giving the most: Southeast
Nonprofit with most donors under 36: Planned Parenthood
Largest single donation: $15,000
2017's Big Give!Days raised: $1,149,357
Nonprofit raising the most: Oregon Cultural Trust ($406,827)
Mahala's Highlights:
More than 600 young people attended the Give!Guide Happy Hours at White Owl Social Club, which were graced with a surprise appearance from the Last Artful, Dodgr at the Reva DeVito show.
Our biggest single day in Give!Guide history was the Oregon Cultural Trust Big Give day in December, totaling $428,956.
We garnered support from more than 250 local artists and businesses, and had a median donation of $50. I am constantly humbled by the altruism of our amazing city.