The Catholic community in northwest Pennsylvania continues to unite in the faith-filled day of generosity known globally as #iGiveCatholic. On December 2, Catholics across northwest Pennsylvania were invited to join in and give to the ministries that shape their hearts and souls. Across the 13-county Diocese of Erie, 1,701 individuals donated $550,208 in support of 94 Catholic organizations including parishes, schools, and ministries. This brings the total raised through #iGiveCatholic over the seven years of diocesan participation to over $2.6 million!
With the theme Give Catholic on Giving Tuesday, #iGiveCatholic is an annual online giving event uniting Catholics across the nation to raise as many charitable dollars as possible for Catholic organizations. In the Diocese of Erie, donors from 29 states outside of Pennsylvania as well as the District of Columbia contributed, showing how far-reaching online giving can be. Nationally, over $26.7 million was raised for over 1,400 Catholic organizations through #iGiveCatholic.
Many organizations found great success in reaching their fundraising goals for a variety of projects. The Catholic Rural Ministry for the Oil City Deanery has used #iGiveCatholic for several years to raise necessary funds for their ministry of presence across five counties. The sisters in this ministry respond to whatever needs are presented - whether material, spiritual, or pastoral - and receiving each person as "Christ knocking at our door”.
“For the past few years, we've had generous matching donors. Each year we have met our matching challenge. This year we were fortunate to have two donors come forward with matching challenges!” Sister Tina Geiger, RSM, the ministry’s #iGiveCatholic coordinator, shared. The matches certainly contributed to their campaigns’ successes, raising over $35,000 in the 2025 campaign and over $90,000 since 2019.
Sister Tina and Sister Marian Wehler, OSB shared their appreciation for their supporters. “We sincerely thank you for your #iGiveCatholic donations to our ministry, and for all your donations and prayers year-round. May the blessings your prayers and donations incur return to you 30, 60, and 100-fold, as Jesus said.”
Other well-performing organizations include Our Lady of Peace Parish in Erie, ranked #92 on the national leaderboard, which raised funds for renovations to the parish campus, as well as Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Mercer, ranked #94, which raised funds to repair the parish’s handicap entrance. Diocese of Erie leaderboards with shortcuts to each organization’s page and project can be found at erie.igivecatholic.org.
The Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania has facilitated #iGiveCatholic since 2019, when a total of $96,643 was raised for 68 Catholic organizations. Reacting to this year’s results, Lisa Louis, Executive Director of the Catholic Foundation, said, “We are excited about this year’s response to the #iGiveCatholic campaign. Year after year, the dollars raised to support these Catholic organizations is inspiring. It shows us Catholics can make a difference when they come together to support the causes that mean the most to them. The Foundation is especially grateful to those donors who chose to directly support our mission this year.”
To offer incentive for the giving day, participating ministries were eligible to win cash prizes by attaining predetermined goals on the day of the event and during the advanced giving period. A $25,000 cash prize pool was available thanks to event sponsors and a generous anonymous donor dedicated to supporting the Catholic community. In all 34 prizes were awarded to 29 organizations.
View prize winners in the document below.
Thank you to our 2025 #iGiveCatholic sponsors!
