The University of Alaska had its best year ever since the Pick. Click. Give. program was first started in 2010, the UA Foundation reported.

That first year, UA campuses received $5,900 through the Permanent Fund Dividend checkoff, which allows Alaskans to give directly to their favorite nonprofit or charity through the annual PFD application. The donations to UA via the PFD jumped to $16,100 in 2011 and then leaped again in 2012, to nearly $25,400. Donations to UA campuses climbed again in 2013, to $28,400, and then doubled this past year, to $56,425.

“It’s inspiring,” Megan Riebe, UA’s associate vice president of development and executive director of the UA Foundation, said of the participation this year. “Another great aspect of this campaign is that ExxonMobil matches all gifts to the university through Pick. Click. Give., bringing the total impact to UA to more than $100,000."

Alaskans set a record in giving through the Pick. Click. Give. in 2014, for a total of $2.7 million pledged to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations, including the University of Alaska. Overall, 4.8 percent of Alaskans who filed for the PFD online gave donations through Pick. Click. Give.

The university helped spread awareness about the campaign through various university websites, social media, printed advertising, public radio announcements, campus newsletters (including the Statewide Voice) and a variety of other methods and venues.

“The generosity of Alaskans is so clear through the growing strength of this program,” Riebe said. “The UA Foundation thanks all Alaskans who chose to donate to a UA campus through their Permanent Fund Dividend application. Their gifts are truly making a difference for our students.”

Even though the March 31 filing deadline has past (as well as the Double Your Dividend Sweepstakes), Alaskans can still choose to make a donation to a UA campus through their PFD online application until August, and ExxonMobil will match it, Riebe said. “There’s still time!”

For more information about Pick. Click. Give., go to: http://www.pickclickgive.org