Joseph Pratt
The Scioto Foundation welcomed the leaders of 26 major nonprofit organizations to celebrate the results of the Third Annual Scioto Gives, which was held just weeks ago. The event passed six digits for the first time, growing over $40,000 from last year’s campaign.
The Scioto Foundation is a nonprofit organization designed to improve the quality of life for the residents of the Scioto County area. The Foundation is a collection of approximately 150 separate gifts, bequests and other contributions from individuals, families, businesses, and other tax-exempt organizations. These funds, endowed in perpetuity, generate income to make grants to qualified agencies serving the Scioto County area.
The Scioto Gives is only one of their fundraisers, and is held during a 12-hour period, aimed to generate funds for local nonprofit endowment funds.
This year, 81,250.00 was raised and $40,000 was matched by the Scioto Foundation and an area business, making the total of $121,250. Last year’s total income came in at $80,258.95.
Last year, Director Kim Cutlip claimed her idea of the next big step would be to get the funds to reach six digits. With that goal having been met in one year, Cutlip said the next step will be to reach six digits through donations alone, not including the matched dollars.
“It took a week for everything to kind of process in my mind, to realize how amazing this year’s Scioto Gives actually was. I am continuously impressed with how hard our nonprofits work and just as proud of our community for stepping up and donating this type of money. Then, there is our staff, who also work hard to make it a success. It is just a wow moment to see the fruition and planning coming together,” Cutlip said
Portsmouth STEM Academy Endowment Fund won the most, with $9,895.00 raised, $4,868.34 matched, and a total of $14,763.34; Friends of Scioto County Homeless Shelter took second, with $8,435.16 raised, $4,150.10 matched, and a total of $12,585.26; SOMC Endowment Fund took third, with $8,283.16 raised, $4,075.31 matched, and a total of $12,358.47; Portsmouth Little Theatre took fourth, with $6550.00 raised, $3,22.60 matched, and a total of $9,772.60; Steven A. Hunter Hope Fund Endowment took fifth, with $5,970.00 raised, $2937.24 matched, and a total of $8,907.24.
“That is the beauty of Scioto Gives. It really puts good into the community through a wide array of nonprofits, which all focus on different types of work,” Cutlip said. “It is deeply pleasing when you see the overall array of them— education, food and security, homelessness— to see all of these issues receiving attention is amazing.”
Cutlip said she is cautiously optimistic about the future of Scioto Gives.
“I hope we can continue to soar at these heights,” Cutlip said. “You just don’t know what can happen, so I am cautiously optimistic, but if the last three years are any indication as to where we are headed, we are going in the right direction. We would like to see that chart continue going upward.”
Reach Joseph Pratt at 740-353-3101, ext. 1932, or by Twitter @JosephPratt03.
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