Final Give Ozarks tally falls short of goal

Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ second-annual Give Ozarks event beat last year’s total, but the fundraiser fell short of its $1.5 million goal.

The final tally was $1.2 million, a 16 percent increase over last year’s total. The event helped provide funding for 220 nonprofits in 70 regional communities.

The end result is $141,838 higher than online-only donations made May 3 at GiveOzarks.org.

During the 24-hour online fundraiser, GiveOzarks.org brought in 11,798 individual donations, a 74 percent increase from the inaugural year. More than $100,000 in prize money related to the event was awarded, and CFO distributed another $100,000 in matching funds to 20 agencies that raised $5,000 or more for endowment funds, according to a news release.

“We had more participating nonprofits, more gifts, more givers and more dollars,” CFO President Brian Fogle said in the release. “In short, Ozarks residents once again showed just how generous they can be when it comes to helping their neighbors.”

GiveOzarks.org’s page views hit 241,115 on May 3, and 30 percent of donors indicated they were first timers, according to CFO.