This year, the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation received $87,000 from donors throughout the county as part of its annual Big GIVE Week. The money was contributed to 29 different funds administered by the foundation.

This year’s Big GIVE Week was held from October 13 to 17, and it encouraged donors from throughout Poweshiek County to donate to various different kinds of funds associated with the community. This is the event’s third year.

The Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation assists donors in supporting various nonprofit organizations in the area. In order to showcase the nonprofits the foundation was working with to donors, they decided to host Big GIVE Week as a venue to streamline donations.

Over the years, this event has become very successful. Last year, Big GIVE Week raised $105,000 for 25 different community funds. According to community relations coordinator Delphina Baumann, last year’s donations were notably more because the foundation offered business incentives to donors. This year, however, they decided to take that incentive away in order to emphasize individual gifts towards different funds.

“This year, instead of a business challenge, we wanted the funds not only to be focused on the administrative funds but other funds as well,” Baumann said.

However, donors still had an incentive to donate because all gifts made to endowed funds at the foundation qualified for the 25 percent Endow Iowa Tax Credit in addition to normal income tax deductions for charitable giving.

Donors during Big GIVE Week looked through the foundation’s “Catalog for Giving” in order to see which funds to donate to. If they were interested in any of the funds, a gift could be made out in any dollar amount and even in memory or honor of someone special.

And Big GIVE Week is not only a charitable event, but also an example of the great efforts a community can make collectively.

“Mainly members of our community donate to us,” Baumann said.

To learn more information about the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation, visit http://www.greaterpcf.org/.