Valley charities may see $125,000 from PFD

MAT-SU — If you believe what organizers of the annual Pick. Click. Give. campaign are saying, we live in a very generous place.

Pick. Click. Give. allows Alaskans to donate money from their permanent fund dividend checks. The tallies aren’t final and, since people sometimes change their minds or some PFD checks can get garnished, they won’t be until checks are distributed in October. Generous Alaskans can still sign up for the program until Aug. 31.

Caveats aside, for now it looks like $125,850 is heading to local nonprofits. Names on the list include animal rescue groups, sports groups, senior citizen groups, farmland preservation groups, education groups, environmental groups and many more.

The most money pledged to any one group went to Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue, which is looking at possibly $41,800 from 954 donors. That group is arguably also the one whose good works has been most visible in recent months. The rescue group played an integral part in caring and finding homes for more than 150 dogs seized in a Caswell-area animal cruelty case in January.

On the other end, the minimum any of the organizations is looking at is $300. Nine donors banded together to give that much to the Palmer Museum and six donors conspired to do the same for Community Sports Inc., the organization behind the AT&T Sports Center.

Jordan Marshall, initiatives and special projects manager for the Rasmuson Foundation, which runs Pick. Click. Give., said the key thing here is donations are unrestricted. When a nonprofit applies for a grant, the grant is almost always for a very specific purpose — building an office or running some kind of targeted program. Costs to coordinate multiple programs are often harder to meet.

“These donations allow flexibility at organizations that they often desperately need,” Marshall said.

He said the Valley numbers represent something close to 10 percent of the dollars pledged statewide. The total for the program hit $1.6 million this year.

“That is a significant leap over the previous year and we’re hopeful of course that that continues to grow as people continue to make donations a part of their (PFD) application process,” he said.

The Valley was noteworthy in that nonprofits here seemed to come up with a model for local promotion of the campaign, he said.

Rasmuson, he said, has recently allocated some money to keep promoting the program, “but we don’t have that as an eternal commitment. Eventually that money will run out and, “after that it’s unknown who will be promoting the program.”

Which, in a way, is probably for the best.

“When communities take ownership of it, that’s when it really takes off,” he said.

In the Valley, nonprofits got together, bought ads, went on the radio and started a Facebook page. The person spearheading the local promotion effort was Palmer Senior Center Office Manager Rachel Greenberg.

She said print ads went in three publications, including the Frontiersman. It all started when she and a few other nonprofit people attended training on how to promote the program. They came back filled with ideas and started emailing every group that had signed up for Pick. Click. Give.

At times, Greenberg said, that meant fielding 150 email responses a day. It was hard to coordinate, but it was an effort made easier by the fact that everyone seemed to be on the same page at all times.

“We all worked together for that common goal,” she said.

Having looked at the numbers, Greenberg said she can definitely perceive a bump in giving through the program this year over last.

“I think it has made a huge difference to all the Mat-Su nonprofits,” Greenberg said.

She said she would be willing to spearhead it again next year if the groups decide they want to try it again. It was a good experience and she learned a lot from it. Some of what she learned was surprising.

“I honestly didn’t know all the nonprofits in the community,” she said. “It was really interesting getting to know them all.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.

LOCAL BENEFICIARIES

PALMER

• Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue: $41,800 from 954 donors

• Alaska Family Services Inc: $2,125 from 44 donors

• Alaska Farmland Trust: $2,450 from 52 donors

• CCS Early Learning: $3,100 from 73 donors

• Community Sports Inc: $300 from 6 donors

• Friends of Mat-Su: $3,625 from 33 donors

• Friends of Palmer Public Library: $1,000 from 29 donors

• Hospice Foundation of Mat-Su: $2,100 from 53 donors

• LINKS Mat Su Parent Resource Center: $600 from 10 donors

• Matanuska Valley Sportsmen Inc: $575 from 16 donors

• Palmer Museum: $300 from 9 donors

• Palmer Senior Citizens Center Inc: $4,500 from 71 donors

• Radio Free Palmer: $1,375 from 30 donors

• University of Alaska, Matanuska-Susitna: $575 from 17 donors

SUTTON

• Alpine Historical Society: $1,050 from 8 donors

• Friends of the Sutton Library: $1,525 from 34 donors

TALKEETNA

• Denali Arts Coucil: $6,300 from 32 donors

• Jessica Stevens Community Foundation: $4,000 from 53 donors

• KTNA Talkeetna Community Radio: $4,200 from 53 donors

• Sunshine Community Health Center: $2,250 from 37 donors

WASILLA

• Alaska Assistance Dogs: $5,975 from 153 donors

• Alaska Attachment and Bonding Associates: $350 from 5 donors

• Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats: $1,175 from 30 donors

• Family Promise Mat-Su: $3,675 from 71 donors

• Food Pantry of Wasilla: $7,725 from 174 donors

• Mat-Su Services for Children and Adults MSSCA: $2,200 from 41 donors

• Matanuska Susitna Schools Foundation: $1,400 from 26 donors

• Meadow Gates Farm Sanctuary: $875 from 22 donors

• Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry: $750 from 17 donors

• North America Outdoor Institute NAOI: $2,450 from 37 donors

• Nugen’s Ranch: $2,625 from 60 donors

• The Children’s Place: $3,850 from 80 donors

• United Way of Matanuska-Susitna Borough: $4,950 from 84 donors

• Valley Charities Inc Endowment: $2,950 from 47 donors

• Valley Residential Services: $725 from 12 donors

• Wasilla Knik Historical Society: $425 from 7 donors