Despite additional week, fundraising is less than a third of last year’s totals
by Mark Craddock
HUERFANO COUNTY — Last year, the Spanish Peaks Business Alliance collected more than $74,000 in donations for area nonprofits during its “12 Days of Giving” fundraising drive.
Hopes were high that the group would exceed that amount this year, the first post-pandemic holiday season.
But as of Tuesday, just over $20,000 had been raised, in spite of the group’s push to extend the deadline a week to tonight.
“I was depressed and sad about it,” board member Sarah Jardis said Tuesday. “There were different opinions on the board, with some saying ‘don’t go too negative.’ But it’s a disappointment. Hopefully we’ll make up some ground.”
Jardis said she thinks the severe drop off in donations may reflect an overall belt-tightening trend this year, with citizens generally spending less locally on the holidays. She said she thought the holiday season was going well for local merchants, “but the more I started asking around, the more things appeared differently.”
Nationally, however, holiday spending seems to be significantly up.
The National Retail Foundation, a trade organization, said a record 196 million Americans shopped in stores and online over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a 10% increase over last year, despite ongoing inflation pressures and looming fears of recession.
Online retailer Amazon announced record-breaking sales between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. Independent businesses selling on Amazon surpassed $1 billion in sales in that time, the company reported. Amazon did not report its own sales figures.
But consumers spent $9.12 billion online on Black Friday and another $11.3 billion on Cyber Monday, according to data provided by Adobe Analytics.
Jardis theorized that, during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, charitable giving was up as communities tried to weather the storm.
“I think during the pandemic years there was such a focus on support for our local nonprofits, and shopping local, really making sure that everyone survived,” she said. “It was like extra motivation for everybody to reach out. I don’t know if this is just a kind of hangover from that. I have heard from some people that they have given in other venues, to other groups, and have maxed out their ability to give.”
As the fundraiser winds to a close, Jardis gave one last full-throated pitch on behalf of the 39 participating nonprofits desperately in need of support.
“Please log onto our website (https://www.spba.huerfano.org) to check out all of the organizations there and what there doing,” she said. “Spanish Peaks Business Alliance covers all transaction fees, so 100% of your donations go to organizations of your choice.”
“If some people don’t like giving online, if they prefer writing a big, fat check, they can just call me — on my cell phone. I’ll take care of it.”
Jardis’ cell phone number is 970-376-3434.
