SALISBURY – The annual 24-hour Shore Gives More campaign raised a record-breaking $269,627 for local nonprofits on Giving Tuesday.
Giving Tuesday, held each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is an international online giving movement. The local campaign, hosted by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore (CFES), is known as the Shore Gives More and helps area nonprofits with fundraising.
“One thing that our community has made clear is that while 2020 has been vastly different, what hasn’t changed is the generous spirit of the holiday season,” said Erica Joseph, CFES president. “By joining together, gifts large and small alike truly make a difference.”
As it has in the past, CFES hosted this year’s Shore Gives More campaign and provided an online donation portal, marketing, and technical support. The campaign received sponsorships from 47 ABC and Shore Untied Bank, which increased the campaign presence, Joseph said.
As a result, on Giving Tuesday a record $269,627 was raised for 100 local nonprofits.
“2020 has been hard on nonprofits with so many traditional fundraisers being canceled,” Joseph said. “At the same time, we have seen many organizations have to pivot their operations and take on additional costs. Each year the local community steps up and supports area nonprofits, but this year donors rallied with force.”
Among the top recipients in this year’s giving event were CFES, with $15,370 donated, Chesapeake Housing Mission, with $11,365 donated, and the Worcester County Education Foundation, with $10,670 donated. Wicomico Public Libraries received $10,025 while the Art League of Ocean City received $9,400.
In Berlin, the Berlin Heritage Foundation exceeded its goal of raising $1,500 and actually brought in $2,325 in donations. The funding will help the foundation upgrade exhibits at the Taylor House Museum, according to Melissa Reid, the museum’s president. Reid and the museum’s other volunteers want to pair items on display in the museum with oral histories—collected in the 1980s—that are tied to them.
“It’ll bring the exhibits to life,” Reid said.
She added that she was pleased to see 20 unique donors supported the museum’s Giving Tuesday campaign.
“People in this community feel this is a place worth supporting,” she said. “We’re really grateful for that.”
Lower Shore Land Trust campaigned for the most unique donors and earned a $1,000 bonus after securing 73 donations on Giving Tuesday.
“The Community Foundation is so committed to their nonprofit partners and they have done a fantastic job creating the ‘Shore Gives More’ unified effort for Giving Tuesday,” said Lower Shore Land Trust’s Kate Patton. “This year was no exception. At a time when many nonprofits are struggling, the community really stepped up and showed such great support, raising more during this year than any previous year. We couldn’t be happier with the support we received for Giving Tuesday.”
The Shore Gives More was first launched as a Giving Tuesday campaign for the Lower Eastern Shore in 2015 and raised just under $5,000 in its first year. In 2019, the event raised a then-record $218.138, 28% more than 2018, with more than 2,200 donations. This year’s total represented a 24% increase over what was donated last year. For a complete list of participating nonprofits and the donations they received visit shoregivesmore.org.
