Mohawk Valley Gives Raises More Than $2.4 Million For Area Nonprofits

UTICA, NY – The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties hosted the second annual “Mohawk Valley Gives,” a 24-hour online giving event, on September 20 to benefit local nonprofits serving the region. The community came together and raised more than $2,400,000, tripling its amount raised compared to last year’s total. Over 6,600 unique donors made over 9,200 individual donations to the 255 participating nonprofit organizations. 

The top earners for the giving day are as follows and the full list of results can be found at givemv.org.

·        Little Falls Youth and Family Center (YMCA) - $275,909

·        ARC Herkimer - 182,988

·        Susquehanna SPCA - $91,060

“I have heard this statement about our community for decades, that ‘we are a very giving community.’ We can say with confidence that this has been proven after our second year offering Mohawk Valley Gives,” said Alicia Fernandez Dicks, president/CEO of the Community Foundation. “Our 2023 giving day exceeded all expectations and exemplifies a community that care, a community that supports each other and a community that wants to thrive. Mohawk Valley Gives shows us that our generous community can offer amazing support for the many nonprofits that serve our area. This year’s results are a true demonstration of our collective generosity.”

Throughout the course of the day, the Community Foundation awarded more than $50,000 in prizes across 50 prize categories to participating nonprofits with the generous support of Mohawk Valley Gives sponsors, as well as members of its Board of Trustees, giving organizations over 250 chances to win. Visit givemv.org/prizes to see the list of winners. Organizations also accessed matches and challenges throughout the day to add to their total dollars raised.

New this year was the addition of the “Piece of the Pie” prize pool, sponsored by M&T Bank/Partners Trust Bank Charitable Trust Fund. This prize pool was a $20,000 bonus stretch pool that complemented the “Take the Cake – Most Donors “prize, sponsored by M&T Bank. Organizations who received at least one online donation on September 20 would earn between $53 and $387 – the more donors an organization has, the bigger their piece of the prize pie would be.  

"After two successful years as a participant in MV Gives, we are so proud to be part of this amazing day of community giving,” said Dianne Stancato, CEO of YWCA Mohawk Valley. “In 2023, we more than doubled our donors from 2022, more than doubled our earnings, and saw online donations from many new donors – a homerun for women and girls here in our community. This year, we felt better prepared after reviewing the best practices from 2022. We implemented as many as we could and we look forward to more next year.”

A project of the Community Foundation, Mohawk Valley Gives was presented by Staffworks and M&T Bank and was made possible by the following partners and sponsors: The Upmobility Foundation, Staffworks Save a Life Campaign, Community Foundation of Otsego County, Rising Phoenix Holdings Corporation, Bank of Utica, Charles A Gaetano Construction, First Source Federal Credit Union, Mastrovito Hyundai, Bank of America, Caruso McClean Investment Advisors, Berkshire Bank, BAIRD The Earl Savery Group, C&D Advertising, Cliff’s Local Markets, The Mele Family Fund of the Community Foundation, Mohawk Valley EDGE, Pacemaker Steel and Piping Company, Assured Information Technologies (AIS), Smart Carrier, Pulver Roofing Company, Newport Telephone, Fox Pest Control, New Hartford Safe and Lock, Sentinel Media Company, Townsquare Media and WKTV NewsChannel 2.  

Mohawk Valley Gives is set to return on September 20, 2024.