Fewer Alaskans signed up online for the state’s annual Permanent Fund dividend check and of those, fewer still decided to take part in the Pick. Click. Give program.
After the application period closed at 11:59 last night, the Division tallied 662,046 residents who signed up online, 14,000 less than the number who applied through the Division’s website last year.
The total number of applications is expected to grow in coming days as more mailed applications arrive.
In 2015, 672,741 Alaskans signed up for the record breaking $2,072 dividend.
The number of applicants donating to charities around the state also decreased this year, with only 29,543 residents participating in Pick. Click. Give.
Program manager Jason Grenn says even though that’s over 4,000 fewer donors than in 2015, the average pledge this year was $8 greater than last year’s average donation.