Skoll Foundation

Winners Announced for the JobRaising Challenge;
$1,469,116 Raised for US Job Creation

Top three raisers JVS Los Angeles, Venture for America (New York) and
Baker Industries (Philadelphia) earn grants from the Skoll Foundation;
Every participant receives surprise gift of $1,000

*** full list of finalists in order of funds raised at bottom ***

Palo Alto, CA – March 4, 2013 – After $1,469,116 in donations, 82% of which were less than $100, from donors all across America, the JobRaising Challenge is complete and has a winner. Over 70 finalists were selected to compete in the challenge and JVS Los Angeles beat the field with $254,100 raised and will now receive an additional $150,000 from The Skoll Foundation. Runners up, Venture for America ($253,205 raised) from New York City and Baker Industries ($111,750 raised) from Philadelphia will receive $50,000 and $30,000, respectively. Additionally, every competing organization received a surprise $1,000 gift from the Skoll Foundation.

National polls consistently show that job creation remains Americans’ top priority. The JobRaising Challenge, which kicked off on Inauguration Day, was designed to address the issue directly by helping job-creating nonprofits raise money and publicity over the course of six weeks. The Skoll Foundation, The Huffington Post, and knowledge partner McKinsey & Company selected 74 finalists offering innovative, feasible, and scalable solutions to the jobs crisis. Finalists competed for daily and weekly prizes through fundraising competitions on CrowdRise in addition to the grants from The Skoll Foundation.

“Take a look at any one of this amazing group and you’ll be struck by what’s working, how entrepreneurial non-profit organizations are solving structural societal problems and creating job opportunities,” said Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg.

“I’m so grateful to the partners, participants and donors that made JobRaising a success,” said Arianna Huffington, chair, president, and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. “By tapping into the American barn-raising spirit, the Challenge not only raised more than a million dollars to help create jobs, it proved that by keeping the spotlight on the ongoing jobs crisis, we can come together to start conversations, raise awareness, and improve lives.”

“Beyond the dollars raised for so many important causes, the fact that the Job Raising Campaign has been so engaging and so many people have participated in meaningful ways is just incredibly encouraging,” said CrowdRise Cofounder Robert Wolfe. “Nothing better than when everyone can have fun when they’re giving back.”

First place JVS Los Angeles CEO Vivian Seigel: “What amazed us about the Challenge was the way it galvanized our donors at every level, who gave literally from $10 to $10,000. We are so grateful for their enthusiasm and generosity. And of course the real winners are the clients of every single JobRaising nonprofit that has more resources today to make a difference in peoples’ lives.”

Second place Venture for America’s CEO Andrew Yang: “The JobRaising Challenge was a great opportunity for us to reach out and galvanize our supporters, and as our first experience with crowdfunding, I’m thrilled at the results.  We’re planning on using the funds to help expand to Cleveland and Baltimore this year, as well as develop new curricular resources.”

Third place Baker Industries President Turk Thacher: “Almost 30% of our donors were new to Baker Industries and our mission of providing work for vulnerable adults. The prize money from the challenge will enable us to implement new marketing thrusts to get more work for our program, allowing us to help more vulnerable adults who so desperately need the work and community Baker Industries provides.”

The effort was also enabled by The Huffington Post’s platform and its 46 million unique visitors in the U.S. per month (comScore, December 2012). HuffPost provided exposure throughout the contest to participating organizations by inviting them to blog, and tapped its community — currently commenting at a rate of 9 million per month — to engage in the JobRaising Challenge.

The Skoll Foundation, The Huffington Post, CrowdRise, and McKinsey & Company, announced the JobRaising Challenge at the Republican and Democratic conventions. It is a new kind of philanthropic initiative to help job-creating nonprofits raise money, raise awareness and help put Americans back to work through highly engaged, cost-efficient incentive fundraising.

JobRaising Results (for dollar totals go to jobraising.com):

1. JVS Los Angeles
2. Venture For America
3. Baker Industries Inc
4. Boaz And Ruth, Inc.
5. Council For Adult And Experiental Learning
6. Economic And Community Development Institute, Inc.
7. Easter Seals Tristate
8. Youthbiz, Inc.
9. Career Gear
10. Outside The Box Inc.
11. Interise Inc.
12. Youthbuild USA, Inc.
13. Upwardly Global
14. Nontraditional Employment For Women-New
15. Taller San Jose
16. Center For Employment Opportunities
17. Getting Out And Staying Out Inc.
18. Creating An Environment Of Success, Inc.
19. Alliance To Develop Power
20. Opportunity Finance Network
21. The Corps Network
22. Hope Program
23. Christian Help Foundation Inc.
24. Career Wardrobe
25. Women’s Bean Project
26. Students Rising Above
27. Dress For Success
28. Greater Bridgeport Communityenterprises Inc – Gbce
29. Hot Bread Kitchen Ltd
30. Pacific Diversified Services Inc
31. Challenge Workforce Solutions
32. Project Return, Inc.
33. JobsfirstNYC
34. Women Helping Women
35. Leap Inc
36. Exodus Refugee Immigration, Inc.
37. Capital Workforce Partners, Inc.
38. Rubicon Programs, Inc.
39. Homeboy Industries
40. Bayaud Enterprises
41. The Community Center Project Of San Francisco Inc
42. Twin Cities Rise
43. Girls Who Code Inc
44. Wardrobe For Opportunity
45. Dc Central Kitchen, Inc.
46. Urban Alliance Foundation Inc.
47. Ntjn At Heartland Alliance For Human Needs & Human Rights
48. Ser-Jobs For Progress Of The Texas Gulf Coast Inc.
49. Samasource, Inc.
50. City Year
51. Midtown Assistance Center Inc.
52. Year Up
53. Startup Weekend
54. Jobs For The Future Inc.
55. Hispanic Alliance For Career Enhancement
56. Accion
57. Code For America
58. Skillsource Group, Inc.
59. Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans Of America Inc
60. Kiva Microfunds