Erie Gives raises a record $12.1 million for 546 nonprofits serving Erie County
The Erie Community Foundation announced the final total of its 24-hour online giving day, held Aug. 11, on Sept. 25. The money grew from last year's $11.4 million, but the 11,913 donors and 31,521 gifts were fewer than in 2025.
Erie. Erie Gives, the Erie Community Foundation's annual 24-hour online giving day, raised a record $12.1 million for 546 nonprofits and causes serving Erie County, Pa. The foundation announced the final total on Sept. 25 at UPMC Park, six weeks after the Aug. 11 event.
By the foundation's count, 11,913 donors made 31,521 gifts, and the event's website puts the total at $12,106,344. That compares with $11,357,387 raised for 539 nonprofits in 2025. The dollars grew, but the number of donors and gifts did not: for 2025 the foundation reported more than 12,000 donors and nearly 40,000 gifts.
Since it began in 2011, Erie Gives has raised $89,819,095, the foundation says.
How the giving day works
Online gifts were taken from midnight to midnight on Aug. 11, with a $25 minimum, and staff and volunteers took card gifts by phone from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Checks, stock and IRA gifts had to reach the foundation by Aug. 4. Erie Gives is a project of the foundation, which grants all of the money to the nonprofits donors choose.
The foundation and its community partners cover the card and website fees through a pool called Bonus Bucks. What is left of the pool is shared out as a prorated match on every gift, and the final total includes it. The Erie Times-News reported that this year's pool passed $639,000, a record.
The final numbers come about four to five weeks after the day, once every gift has been processed and reconciled, and the nonprofits receive their money after that, according to the foundation.
Who raised the most
Mercy Center for Women, which provides transitional housing for homeless women and children, raised the most money, and the A.N.N.A. Shelter, an animal shelter, drew the most donors, the Erie Times-News and TalkErie reported. The two outlets gave different figures for both. The Times-News counted 44 nonprofits taking part for the first time.
Erie Gives is held on the second Tuesday of August. The next one falls on Aug. 10, 2027.
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