(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)
With the totals still to be determined, Erie local nonprofits are seeing the impact from the 15th annual Erie Gives.
The Erie Community Foundation-run Erie Gives, which supports local nonprofits and their missions, began at midnight Aug. 12 and finished after 24 hours.
Just after 9 a.m. on Aug. 13, the day after Erie Gives, the Erie Community Foundation reported more than 38,500 gifts totaling more than $11 million dollars to 539 different nonprofits in the Erie area had been received.
The 2025 totals have surpassed the 2024 totals with more than $2 million raised and 4,000 more gifts received. Each nonprofit received a gift of at least $25 this year. Full official results from Erie Gives will be revealed Sept. 15 during a news conference at UPMC Park.
“We’re about on par with how we were last year,” Erin Fessler, vice president of marketing and community and government relations for Erie Community Foundation, said early afternoon on Aug. 12. “We’re hoping to reach at least what we did last year, which was $9.7 million. Erie Gives in total has raised over $66.3 million in its history and we hope to smash all records. Last year was the highest number of donations. We had around 34,000 gifts.”
Nonprofits see impact from donations
On Aug. 12, several organizations were seeing a big boost from Erie Gives donors.
WQLN, which lost $1.2 million from federal funding cuts, surpassed its total from 2024 which was just over $70,000. On Aug. 12 at around 2:30 p.m. WQLN stood at over $205,000 with gifts from more than 1,200 donors on Aug. 13.
“It’s been fantastic,” said Shannon Ferrare, membership manager at WQLN. “We don’t always raise as much money as other nonprofits, but we find that we have more donors that are giving gifts. They always come through for us and today is no exception.”
Other nonprofits in the Erie community are thankful for the support.
“We are so excited and honored to be one of the nonprofits to be involved in this day and support our mission,” Tracy Dailey, executive director of Emma’s Footprints, said. “The money is always such a blessing. The exposure speaks volumes.”
Dailey says that the money raised from Erie Gives will help Emma’s Footprints continue the mission of helping families who are grieving the loss of a pregnancy or infant.
Great totals come in small donations
Fessler said the gifts received during Erie Gives, big or small, add up to a lot.
The Erie Community Foundation also has a bonus bucks program during Erie Gives, where every gift will receive a little extra from the prorated match pool.
The prorated match pool is made possible by the Erie Community Foundation’s community partners. The list of sponsors can be found on Eriegives.org.
In 2025, the bonus bucks program totaled $634,000.
The Erie Community Foundation doesn’t receive any funds except those donated to the foundation specifically.
The money donated to the organization still goes to toward the foundation’s mission to improve the quality of life in the Erie region by evaluating and addressing community issues, building permanent charitable endowments, and promoting philanthropic and community leadership.
Philanthropy to the next generation
A goal for the Erie Community Foundation is to show the next generation of donors the impact of giving.
“The Erie Community Foundation actually spends money on Erie Gives because its our opportunity to introduce philanthropy to the next generation,” Fessler said. “It’s our chance to uplift our nonprofit sector. The other 364 days we spend helping donors set up endowment funds so they can support their favorite nonprofits forever.”
That impact was already shown to one organization as they received a donation from one of its youngest donors in history.
With the help of her mother, 7-year-old Arden Fetcko made a $25 donation to the Erie Downtown Partnership as a way of thanking the organization for all of the fun she’s had downtown.
“It showcases our impact from our work downtown,” said Mulnah Dovat, marketing and membership services coordinator for Erie Downtown Partnership. “Arden is a huge fan of the downtown skating rink that opened in the winter and the many events that we put on.”
Thankful nonprofits on Erie Gives
“The support has been fantastic,” Ferrare said about the annual event. “I’ve been talking to people for weeks and they tell us that they will give on Erie Gives… They are showing up and I can’t thank people enough.”
Dailey echoed Ferrare’s sentiment about the generosity and support.
“Thank you,” Dailey said. “It’s really cool to see how this has grown over the years and it’s cool to see Erie come together to support nonprofits.”
Contact Nicholas Sorensen at Nsorensen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: How much will nonprofits benefit from Erie Gives? Reports show record numbers
