Butler County agencies prepare for GivingTuesday
Christina Dreher, development director of the Butler County Family YMCA, said the organization will match donations Tuesday, Nov. 28, at the Butler and Rose E. Schneider lobbies. The event runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
GivingTuesday is celebrated as a holiday at both of the main locations of Butler YMCA.
“We’ll have music, snacks and more as we kick off the season of giving by asking our incredible members, volunteers and community for their support of our mission,” Dreher said. “This year, we received a gift of a $10,000 matching gift from an anonymous donor, meaning the first $10,000 donated will be matched dollar-for-dollar.”
GivingTuesday, a movement that promotes “radical generosity,” was created in 2012 to encourage people to do good after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Several nonprofit organizations and social aid agencies around Butler County have promoted their own fundraising campaigns through GivingTuesday through the years. Dreher said the community has helped make the YMCA’s GivingTuesdays successful, which helps the organization provide cost savings to children for its programs.
“This anonymous donor has been a member of our Butler YMCA for years and visits us every week. Year after year, they donate to our Annual Support Campaign,” she said. “This investment shows that the positive impact of the Y in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of our members makes a difference.”
Amy Franz, Butler region director for the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, said the agency typically promotes GivingTuesday through mailers to companies and individuals. The United Way provides funding to other agency programs and initiatives, so raising money for it helps get funding to needed programming in Butler County.
“We do have a piece that we sent in the mail earlier in November that we are starting to see results from,” Franz said. “The timing was to coincide with GivingTuesday.”
Cari Ciancio, executive director of the Butler County Humane Society, said she has been promoting GivingTuesday throughout November. Similar to the YMCA, the humane society is also being supported by an anonymous donor, whom Ciancio said is providing $15,000 to match donations throughout the month.
Because most monetary donations received by the humane society are between $25 and $100, the match could encourage more people to donate, according to Ciancio.
“It's kind of cool that if they're giving $25, it becomes $50,” Ciancio said. “Primarily it's a really nice way to set us up from the new year, also buy any supplies, anything building-wise or anything for the animals.”
