"Love Utah Give Utah" hopes to raise $2 million today

<span>SALT LAKE CITY – Raising $2 million in one day, today, to benefit hundreds of nonprofits and schools is the goal of “Love Utah Give Utah.” Blair Hodson, director of initiatives with the Community Foundation of Utah, which organizes the annual day of online giving at </span><a href=”http://loveutgiveut.razoo.com/giving_events/UT15/home” target=”parent”>loveUTgiveUT.org</a><span>. </span>

<span>Hodson says the event, now in its third year, is growing fast.</span>

<span>”The 2013 total was right around $650,000,” he says. “Last year was $1,580,839.”</span>

<span>Hodson says giving involves selecting a charity or school through the website, and making a minimum $10 donation.</span>

<span>He adds, many people donate because there is several hundred thousand dollars in matching funds available. That means a $25 donation to your favorite cause or organization becomes $50. Hodson says prizes are offered to the organizations that get the most donors and raise the most money. The Girl Scouts have won the past two years.</span>

<span>”We like to joke around here that every Girl Scout in the state is shaking down their grandmothers and their aunts and uncles for a donation,” says Hodson. “So they can win this contest.”</span>

<span>Hodson says about a third of all donors were new to the causes they supported last year, which he says is critical for nonprofits to sustain and grow.</span>

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