CENTRE COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — It’s ‘Centre Gives’ week, the annual online fundraiser for hundreds of non-profit organizations and agencies in Centre County.

In its early days, Centre Gives was educational in demonstrating the “power of social media.”

Now it sounds so simple, make a donation to your favorite non-profits through a couple of online clicks. But back in 2012, the first year for Centre Gives, there was a different mindset.

“There was a lot of discussion. People were not even sure it would work. It’s hard to believe now, but one of the reasons we started this was because we were trying to convince local non-profits the importance of being online.”

Organizers at Centre Foundation, the home of Centre Gives, had to sell the concept, and in some cases, help build the technology needed.

“We had a lot of pushback, like ‘we’re not going to raise any money online.’ We said we think it’s just a little incentive. There were organizations that we helped them connect with somebody to get a website.”

Since 2021, Centre Gives has raised nearly twenty million dollars. This year, a record number of non-profits involved, more than 230.

The 36 hours of online giving begins Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.

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