Alaska Program Prompts Residents to Pledge Dividend Payments to Charity

Alaska residents pledged more than $1.5-million this year to nonprofits as part of a program that encourages residents to give a portion of state dividend payments they receive to charity.

The effort is tied to Alaska’s permanent fund dividend program, which gives Alaskans one quarter of the royalties collected through oil and natural-gas drilling projects. Each Alaska resident gets an equal payment, which typically ranges from $300 to just under $2,000 annually.

Three years ago, the state began encouraging residents to consider giving some of their dividends to charity through a program called “Pick. Click. Give.”

Residents who claim the dividend online are directed to a Web page that offers them the option of pledging some or all of their dividends to one of 401 approved nonprofits. The organizations cover a wide range of issues and include all of the University of Alaska’s campuses and satellite campuses.

In a campaign that ended March 31, more than 18,700 Alaskans—or 3.4 percent of the state’s population—took part in “Pick. Click. Give,” donating more than $1.5-million to charities, according to the Rasmuson Foundation, a family foundation in Anchorage that manages the program.

The program has been growing quickly–residents gave about $500,000 in the program’s first year and nearly $1-million in 2010.

Organizations that raised the most in this year’s campaign included the state’s public broadcasting companies ($73,425), Food Bank of Alaska ($55,675), Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue ($41,800), Planned Parenthood ($35,700), and Covenant House ($33,050).

The Rasmuson Foundation has been covering the program’s costs, though it plans to pay for the program long-term through a filing fee that would be paid by participating organizations. Rasmuson has also pulled together a group of fund raisers to lead a media and public-relations campaign to raise awareness about the program, said Jordan Marshall, special projects manager at the foundation.

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