Millions Of Dollars Raised For Giving Tuesday Through SHARE Omaha & SHARE Iowa

From Nebraska Examiner:

By Jazari Kual

December 8, 2022

OMAHA — SHARE Omaha and SHARE Iowa had a record-breaking year by raising over $4.2 million on their websites for Giving Tuesday.

Local philanthropists created SHARE Omaha to help area nonprofits, primarily in Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy, Saunders or Washington Counties, fulfill their missions by recruiting donors to share money, material goods and time, according to a news release.

According to a news release from the organizations, a 20% match by the Community Foundation for Western Iowa and a bonus fund of $67,000 raised by Todd Simon, CEO of Omaha Steaks, propelled donations.

Celebrated results

“This was the biggest day of transactions for any SHARE site in history,” said Marjorie Maas, CEO of Share Good nationwide. “Even with the challenges of the past few years with COVID and the economy, people really care about each other and their communities. Our results are truly celebrated.”

Nonprofits react

Donors could find various nonprofits with different missions on SHARE Omaha’s website. One is Bethlehem House, which aims to provide pregnant and parenting women in crisis, regardless of their faith preference, with a home, hope and empowerment through life-affirming services rooted in the Catholic tradition. Bethlehem House is a participating returning nonprofit on SHARE Omaha’s website.

“With the slowing economy, we were hesitant to set goals much higher than last year’s total,” Abby Skradski, a Development Associate with Bethlehem House, said. “But we were very surprised to surpass last year’s total by $5,000 (41%).”

Radio Theatre Omaha is a first-time participant on SHARE Omaha’s website. The theater invites listeners to create a world of stories as written and made real by Nebraska and Iowa writers, voice actors, sound effects artists and musicians, according to its website.

“I’m excited with our support in comments from our community,” Stephanie Kidd, managing director of Radio Theatre Omaha, said. “What we learned was that there is a place for us in Omaha, and that our work matters. In this first year, that is worth more than a huge fundraising amount for us.”

SHARE Omaha’s website is available to collect donations year-round and does not charge any fees to nonprofits or keep any portion of what is donated, according to its website.

SHARE Iowa, newly formed in 2022, has the mission of collecting donations for nonprofits in nine counties throughout western Iowa. They are Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby counties.

Nebraskans want accountability from their elected officials and government. They want to know whether their tax dollars are being well-spent, whether state agencies and local governments are responsive to the people and whether officials, programs and policies are working for the common good. The Nebraska Examiner is a nonprofit, independent news source committed to providing news, scoops and reports important to our state.