Firstgiving Runners Help Raise $1.9 Million for Charities in the 2009 Boston Marathon

SOMERVILLE, Mass., April 21, 2009 — Firstgiving.com, a leading web-based fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations, today announced results from its fundraising efforts for the 113th Boston Marathon. Comprising nearly half of the charity-focused entrants, Firstgiving’s 844 runners have already raised $1,938,281 for 96 charities using Firstgiving technology. These preliminary numbers indicate that the final amount raised is an increase over 2008, for a fifth record-breaking year.

To run the Boston Marathon, a runner has to either post a qualifying time or raise money for one of the official charities designated by The Boston Athletic Association each year. Charity runners do not need a qualifying time but they do need to raise or donate a minimum amount for their chosen organization.

“In 2008, runners using Firstgiving raised more than half of the money raised by all Boston Marathon charity runners,” said David Karp, Director of Marketing at Firstgiving.com. “The power each person brings to the fundraising process still continues to amaze me. Even in difficult economic times, the stories of these fundraiser athletes inspire impressive donations, and past years have shown us that money keeps coming in long after the race is done."

Year over year, Firstgiving.com’s fundraisers have brought an ever increasing amount of money to serve the needs of many deserving organizations. Past amounts raised for Boston Marathon charities by Firstgiving.com runners were as follows:

* 2008: 699 runners raised $1.8 M for 98 organizations
* 2007: 599 runners raised $1.4 M for 75 organizations
* 2006: 444 runners raised $893,000 for 50 organizations
* 2005: 307 runners raised $598,000 for 35 organizations
* 2004: 176 runners raised $278,000 for 9 organizations

Preliminary analysis further shows that in 2009, almost 28,000 Firstgiving donors gave their friends, co-workers and family an average of about $70 as they ran in the Boston Marathon, $15 more than the standard Firstgiving donation average. Out of the 844 runners, the average amount raised was $2,282, and the top fundraising runner brought in over $20,000.

Firstgiving offers individual fundraisers a streamlined fundraising page that can be personalized with messages, photos and videos. The ability for individuals and nonprofits to set up a personalized fundraising page with Firstgiving.com technology simplifies the process for fundraisers. Fundraisers can send their fundraising page links to family, friends and networks around the globe and ask for support during events, like the Boston Marathon, to raise funds for any certified US nonprofit organization.

While raising money for the Boston Marathon is nothing new, Firstgiving has greatly simplified the fundraising process. Firstgiving has also found that the online fundraising pages raise an average of 3 times more than traditional fundraising methods.

Getting into the action themselves, Firstgiving employees Beth Lingard and Mark Wroblewski, were both charity runners in the 2009 Boston Marathon. Beth Lingard, completing her 9th marathon, raised funds for Brigham & Women’s hospital, a long-time Boston Marathon charity (http://www.firstgiving.com/bethlingard). In his first marathon, Mark Wroblewski ran for Cycle Kids, an organization that introduces children to the joys of cycling, healthy eating, fitness, environmental awareness, and physical science (http://www.firstgiving.com/markrunsboston).

About Firstgiving
Firstgiving enables individuals to raise money online for their favorite nonprofit organizations. Firstgiving.com’s dynamic, dedicated fundraising experts offer individuals and nonprofit organizations ongoing insight into their online fundraising progress. Based in Somerville, MA, Firstgiving has helped over 1.6 million people raise more than $90 million for over 23,000 different nonprofit organizations since 2003. Firstgiving is the US office of Giving, Ltd of London, England. For more information on how to set up your own Firstgiving fundraising page, please visit www.firstgiving.com or call (617) 591-2121.