The Giving Challenge ended Thursday at noon after raising $16.7 million during the 24-hour online campaign, according to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. This year, 50,904 donors made 87,814 gifts to a record 751 participating nonprofits. The 2026 event was the 10th Giving Challenge since the effort began in 2012, bringing its cumulative impact to nearly $110 million.

Among the nonprofits, Mote Marine Laboratory ranked first with $297,368 raised, followed by All Faiths Food Bank at $262,100 and Satchel’s Last Resort at $226,060. Venice Theatre placed fourth with $203,493, followed by Suncoast Humane Society at $198,575. The rest of the top 10 were Galatians 6:2 Inc., Agape Flights, Cat Depot, Dogs Inc. and Anna Maria Island Community Center. To check out the complete leaderboard results, click here.  

The total fell short of the last Giving Challenge in 2024, when donors raised $17.2 million for 724 nonprofits across Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. That puts this year’s haul about $500,000 lower than the last cycle, even as the number of participating nonprofits climbed by 27.

The donations made during this year’s challenge are unrestricted, giving nonprofits room to use the money where it’s needed most. Participating organizations represented a wide range of work, including health care, housing, education, arts and culture and environmental causes.

The Patterson Foundation again supplied the event’s matching power, providing a one-to-one match for unique donations between $25 and $100 per donor, per nonprofit. That produced $6.5 million in matching dollars this year and brought The Patterson Foundation’s total support for the Giving Challenge to more than $43 million since 2012. In 2024, the foundation’s dollar-for-dollar match added $6.7 million to the final total.

One anonymous Sarasota couple joined this year’s “100 Percent Club” by giving $100 to all 751 participating nonprofits, for a $75,100 gift that was fully matched. That brought the total impact of the couple’s giving to $150,200. 

The Giving Challenge is designed to do more than drive one day of donations. In the lead-up to the event, the Community Foundation and its partners offered participating nonprofits free workshops and training sessions on topics including collaboration, communications planning and social media marketing. Participating groups were also eligible for 21 prize opportunities supported by the Community Foundation and community partners.

Since its first year, the challenge has expanded dramatically. In 2012, it raised nearly $2.4 million for 109 nonprofits. This year, it raised $16.7 million for 751 organizations, keeping the event near its high-water mark while widening the pool of participating nonprofits.