For the fifth annual Fairfield County Giving Day, an online event hosted by Fairfield County's Community Foundation (FCCF), 13,137 donors gave more than $1.4 million to 415 nonprofit organizations.Newtown Nonprofits[naviga:img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-307071" src="https://newtownbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Fairfield-Country-Giving-Day-2018-HORIZONTAL1.png" alt="Fairfield County Giving Day 2018 HORIZONTAL" width="723" height="248" /]Seventeen local nonprofits participated in the fifth annual Fairfield County Giving Day, raising a collective total of $30,717 through 437 individual donations and one prize. 

The total - listed as $1,400,887 as of March 7 - represents a decrease of just 4.39 percent below last year's record-setting total of $1,465,246.

Fairfield County Giving Day makes it fast and easy to support a favorite nonprofit. The mission of the annual event is to raise as much money as possible for nonprofit organizations in 24 hours, all done through online donations.

The event runs from midnight until 11:59 pm. All are invited to help support a favorite program, cause, or nonprofit with an online donation of at least $10.

All participating organizations are 501(c)(3) charitable organizations that serve residents of Fairfield County; the clear majority are based within the county. Organizations have gone through an application process to participate in Giving Day.

Donations are 100 percent tax deductible.

Eighteen Newtown-based organizations collected a total of $25,553 during last year's campaign.

Seventeen local nonprofits participated in Giving Day last week, raising a collective total of $30,717 through 437 individual donations and one prize.

As incentives, FCCF offers bonuses, or grant prizes, during each Giving Day, ranging from $25 to $5,000. Kitten Associates earned a $200 bonus by placing third in a Facebook Photo Contest. Overall, Kitten Associates raised a total of $5,075 on Giving Day, through 102 donations.

Ben's Lighthouse was the highest grossing Newtown-based organization this year, raising $5,726 through 73 donations last week.

The following Newtown-based organizations also participated: The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation, which raised $1,320 (thanks to 13 donations); C.H. Booth Library, $469 (10 donations); Embrace Hope Equine Assisted Therapy Program, $249 (10 donations); Friends of Second Company Governor's Horse Guard, $10 (one donation); and The Mary Hawley Society, which raised $715 through 10 donations.

Also, Merryhill Child Care Center raised $2,005 through 33 donations; Newtown Children's Museum (EverWonder Children's Museum) raised $50 (one donation); Newtown Parent Connection, $1,195 (eight donations); Newtown Scholarship Association, $3,045 (22 donations); Newtown Youth & Family Services, $2,832 (43 donations); The Resiliency Center of Newtown, $200 (four donations); Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, $4,050 (25 donations); and Town Players of Newtown $650 (17 donations)

The Exceptional Partner and Perry Ministries were both registered for Giving Day 2018, but neither had any donations noted as of March 7.

Ben's Bells Connecticut (listed as Ben's Bells Project), which was founded as Ben's Bells Newtown in 2013 and then relocated to Bethel in 2015, raised $3,126 donations through 65 donations.

At the end of last week's campaign, Curtain Call repeated as the top performing Giving Day participant. For the fifth straight year, in fact, it was the Stamford-based theater company that emerged at the top of the fundraising pack. Its donations and cash prizes totaled $87,638.50, and included a $15,000 bonus for Most Dollars Raised (first place) and a $5,000 bonus for Top of the Morning Prize-Large Organization.

Much of the prize pool is funded primarily by Bank of America, a major sponsor of the event, along with partnering corporations, other institutions and individual donors.

Wildlife in Crisis returned to the second place spot, after falling to third place in 2017. The Weston-based organization earned $71,106 in donations on March 1, followed by Kids Helping Kids in Stamford, at $51,960.09.

According to FCCF, since Giving Day's inception in 2014 nearly $6 million dollars has been raised for more than 746 nonprofits.