ANCHORAGE, April 1, 2011 — Pledge data at the close of the 2011 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) filing period show 18,726 Alaskans made 27,829 charitable gifts to Alaska nonprofits during the 90 day campaign. The total pledged amount as of midnight March 31 was $1,570,900. These data show that 3.4 percent of Alaskans who filed online for their PFDs took advantage of the opportunity to support the causes they care about in their communities.
“Alaskans are seeing the dividend in a different light,” said Jordan Marshall, special projects manager with Rasmuson Foundation. “Increasingly, the dividend is being seen as a way to strengthen our communities. Moreover, our research shows that on average over half of these gifts are coming from people making their first philanthropic gift.”
Marshall noted that these data are current as of 11:59:59 p.m., March 31, the close of the filing period for the 2011 PFD. “Pledges are not final until dividends are distributed in October,” he said.
In 2009, the first year of the program, 5,173 individuals made 7,698 pledges for a total of $545,000. In 2010, the second year of PCG, 9,543 individuals made 14,264 pledges totaling $927,075.