Jewish groups post strong GiveNOLA results

The New Orleans Jewish community tripled its participation in this year’s GiveNOLA Day, paced by a stunning performance by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans.

The second annual GiveNOLA Day was held on May 5, a 24-hour online fundraiser involving about 550 non-profits in the area. The minimum donation is $10. All donations made on that day give the nonprofits the opportunity to earn lagniappe dollars, awards and hourly prizes.

Awards include most money raised, most unique donors and randomly-drawn $1,000 hourly prizes. Donations to the Lagniappe Fund will be distributed to all agencies in proportion to what they raised on May 5.

Overall, the 10 Jewish organizations that participated raised $137,981. Last year, six Jewish organizations participated.

The Federation had set a goal of $50,000 after raising $20,670 last year. This year the Federation raised $89,110 from 147 donors. Last year’s total came from 151 donors.

Because they were third overall in funds raised, the Federation will receive a $3,000 bonus.

Morton Katz, president of the Federation, called the day “wildly successful.” He and incoming president Eddie Soll each sponsored a Power Hour, matching up to $1,000 of donations during a particular hour.

Perhaps even more surprising than the Federation result was the total achieved by the Jewish Endowment Foundation. When midnight struck, JEF had exactly $18,000 from 35 donors. Last year, JEF raised $10,451 from 40 donors.

Jewish Family Service raised $10,255 from 96 donors, up from last year’s $3,544 from 78 donors. Jewish Children’s Regional Service raised $6,972 from 62 donors, up from 70 gifts totaling $5,814 last year.

The New Orleans Jewish Community Center raised $4,240, up slightly from last year’s $4,020 despite the number of donors dropping from 97 to 59.

AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps topped the newcomers, with 46 donors for $3,096. The National Council of Jewish Women raised $2,414 from 25 donors, up from last year’s $1,672 from 31 donors.

The Anti-Defamation League raised $2,327 from 39 donors, Hadassah brought in $1,067 from 18 donors and the Northshore Jewish Congregation raised $510 from 12 donors.

The Ogden Museum of Southern Art repeated as top fundraiser, with $223,840 from 152 gifts. Last year they raised $101,285 from 147 donors.

Team Gleason once again topped the day in most donors, with 1,068, raising $55.281. Last year they had 631 donors for $42,864.

In all, GiveNOLA Day raised $4.083 million through 34,539 gifts. It was part of a national effort, Give Local America, which had 120 communities participating, with 9,000 nonprofits raising over $68 million.

Northwest Louisiana had Give for Good Day, raising $1.74 million.

Next year’s Give Local Day nationally will be May 3.