Alaskans may be worried about lawmakers capping their Permanent Fund Dividend in order to balance the state budget but that’s not stopping people from donating to charities.
Jason Grenn, Pick.Click.Give Program Manager, says this year’s donations are on track to match last year’s record.
Grenn: “We are neck and neck with where we were last year. Participation rate is a little down but the amount that people are giving has actually increased from last year.”
More than 33,000 Alaskans used the program to donate over $3 million to 539 different non-profit organizations in 2015.
Grenn says those donations came from about six percent of PFD applicants but that’s a relatively high percentage compared to other means of fundraising.
March 31 is the deadline for Alaskans to apply for PFDs but donations through the Pick.Click.Give program can be added or changed up until about a month before dividends are paid.
Grenn: “We’re trying to let people know that even if you aren’t ready to do that now, if this summer you end up running into a non-profit that really changed your life or someone’s life, you can go back and give to them all the way through August 31.”
This is the seventh year of operating for the donations program.