Animal rescues, schools, social services are top winners in Give to the Max Day

The $18.3 million that flooded Minnesota nonprofits during Thursday's Give to the Max Day produced some likely — and unlikely — winners.

While top fundraisers included previous big hitters such as Cretin-Derham Hall High School of St. Paul, which brought in $610,000, the top 10 list in the "small nonprofit" category included surprisingly lesser-known groups such as A Rotta Love Plus and Animal Folks — each bringing in about $32,000.

Animal groups, hunger fighters and schools, in fact, were disproportionately represented in all three categories of winners — overall, medium and small.

"They are great organizations that have strategized for Give to the Max Day throughout the year," said Dana Nelson, executive director of GiveMN.org, which administers Minnesota's annual day of giving.

More than 62,600 people donated to 5,544 organizations through GiveMN.org Thursday, according to figures released Friday. That's a 20 percent increase in the number of donors and a 25 percent increase in the number of organizations receiving gifts from last year, when $17.1 million was raised.

A look at the biggest winners in each category indeed point to organizations that have made Give to the Max Day a major fundraising priority. That's particularly true for the small and medium-sized nonprofits.

While most Minnesotans have never heard of A Rotta Love Plus, a pit bull and Rottweiler rescue group, it consistently has scored near the top of donation charts for small nonprofits because it's the group's only real fundraiser of the year, said Michelle Klatt, a director at the all-volunteer nonprofit.

The message resounded with supporters, who donated about 75 percent of the group's $50,000 annual budget Thursday, Klatt said.

Likewise, the Church of St. Joseph in Red Wing, which took second place in the medium-sized nonprofit listing, raised nearly $97,000 Thursday, said Jordan Harris, the parish administrator.

Last year, the church placed second in outstate donations, creating energy and excitement for this year, she said. Plus, the church had a clear goal for the money: buying an electronic bell carillon to replace the broken church bell chimes that hadn't worked in a decade, she said.

It also helped that Red Wing as a community has embraced Give to the Max Day, she said. Parishioners were comfortable stopping by the church starting at 7 a.m. to make a donation and chat, with the last leaving at 11 p.m.

"I still can't believe we raised more than $96,000 in one day," she said.

Like St. Joseph Church, it had clear goals, among them to raise funds for student scholarships in honor of departing school President Richard Engler, he said. Four generous donors contributed $20,000 each, Miley said.

The sense of competitiveness among supporters also came into play, he said.

"If we send out an e-mail saying that we're in second place, a lot of people who haven't made a gift jump in," he said with a laugh.

Even though the school must pay 4.9 percent processing fee to GiveMN, it makes financial sense because "we save a great deal of people power," he said.

With the school budget $610,000 fatter Friday, Miley headed home for some rest. He marveled at what happened in 24 hours.