By all accounts Valley Gives was an overwhelming success. In total, Valley Gives Day events of 2012, 2013, and 2014 have helped 559 local nonprofits raise nearly $5.9 million from more than 24,400 generous donors, many of whom gave online for the first time.

After we were done celebrating the results of the 2014 Valley Gives Day, the Community Foundation began evaluating results, nonprofit and donor surveys, and in-person listening sessions held immediately after Valley Gives 2013 and 2014.

Here are some highlights of what we learned:

• In 2013, only 21% of the nonprofits participating in Valley Gives Day were all volunteer organizations (no paid staff). In 2014, this proportion doubled, to 42%, as did the proportion of nonprofits with annual budgets under $100,000, from 27% in 2013 to 41% in 2014. This means much of the growth in numbers of participating nonprofits since 2013 is due to small organizations…