Numerous charities in Butler County received donations Tuesday through the annual Day of Giving.

The fundraising campaign is organized through the Endowment for Butler County as part of the Pittsburgh Foundation’s annual event.

More than $96,000 was donated to charities in the county, an increase from the $73,000 collected last year.

“It’s a good number,” said Leslie Osche of the Endowment for Butler County. “We were expecting to receive more than last year. It’s great that in one day the community was able to contribute almost $100,000.”

Osche said the Day of Giving is a good way to raise both money and awareness for the nonprofits in the county.

“It’s a fairly significant event,” she said. “I think a lot of new organizations joined this year. Fundraising has been a challenge for nonprofits the past couple years.”

More than 470 donations were made throughout the day. The minimum Day of Giving gift per organization was $25.

There were 38 county charities that participate in the event.

The endowment will provide a matching grant to each organization, up to $1,000. Osche said the endowment will determine soon the size of the match, but said she expects it to be about 25 percent.

The matching pool was started with a $10,000 worth of sponsorships by XTO Energy, NexTier Bank, Snyder Group of Companies and IQC.

The endowment will use its own funds to add to the match.

“We were fortunate again to have great sponsors,” Osche said. “It’s a great opportunity to take money from the endowment fund and make it available.”

The endowment was established in 1988 by philanthropist Ben Phillips of the Butler County based T.W. Phillips Gas & Oil Co., along with other community-minded individuals, according to its website.

Osche said it was nice to see the natural gas industry being a big part of the campaign.

“It started with an oil and gas legacy,” Osche said of the endowment. “It’s good to see it come full circle back to the gas industry.”

The Butler County Community College Education Foundation received the most funding of all county organizations, taking in $16,575.

Penn Christian Academy, Butler Catholic School and the Community Health Clinic of Butler County each received more than $9,000.

These nonprofits also participated:

Associated Artists of Butler County, Butler Area Public Library, Butler County Against Heroin, Butler County Alliance for Children, Butler County Association for the Blind, Butler County Children’s Center, Butler YMCA, Butler County Symphony Association,

Butler Health System Foundation, Butler Meals on Wheels, Center for Community Resources, Community Care Connections, Computer Reach, Cranberry Public Library, Grapevine Center, Habitat for Humanity — Butler, Lutherlyn, Keystone State Music Theater, Knoch Knights Legacies Foundation, Lifesteps, Lighthouse Foundation, Lutheran SeniorLife Foundation, Mars Public Library Association, Mental Health Association of Butler County, Strand Theater Initiative, United Way of Butler County, Victim Outreach Intervention Center and Wildbird Recovery.