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ALEXANDRIA, Va - Alexandria's 16th annual Spring2ACTion closed Wednesday at midnight having raised $3.4 million from more than 7,000 donors for 198 local nonprofits — blowing past ACT for Alexandria's $2.5 million goal and eclipsing last year's record $3.1 million haul.
Donations climbed from $912,810 at dawn to $1.3 million by late morning and $2.77 million by 7:50 p.m., before a stretch-run push carried the campaign past the $3 million mark that organizers had publicly targeted in the closing hours.
Heather Peeler, president and CEO of ACT for Alexandria, said the campaign reflected Alexandria's character as much as its generosity.
"Spring2ACTion is more than just a day of giving. It's a powerful demonstration of what we can achieve when we come together as neighbors helping neighbors," Peeler said in a statement released early Thursday. "Alexandria is a special place. People choose to live and work here because it is a vibrant, diverse, and welcoming place."
Peeler thanked the more than 7,000 donors, 198 participating nonprofits and 60-plus local businesses whose sponsorships underwrote the day. "Strong nonprofits are more important than ever as we continue to navigate ongoing uncertainty and challenges," she said. "By giving together and working collaboratively, we are helping to stabilize vital services and advance the public good."
Although the official 24-hour window has closed, ACT for Alexandria said the Spring2ACTion online platform will remain open for donations through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, April 26. Donors can give at spring2action.org by organization name or cause from any device. The platform also stays live year-round as a directory of Alexandria's nonprofit community.
Final leaderboards
King Street Cats, the all-volunteer cat rescue, closed the day atop the donor-count leaderboard at 402 donors — more than any other of the 198 participating organizations — and in second place citywide by dollars at $63,740. The Alexandria Singers placed second by donor count at 371 and ranked fifth by dollars at $35,211. Housing Alexandria finished third on both metrics, pulling in $36,481 from 361 donors.
Casa Chirilagua, which paced the field for much of Wednesday, closed atop the final dollars list at $79,964 from 233 donors. ALIVE! raised $55,506 from 280 donors, and Carpenter's Shelter banked $38,803 from 210 donors. Homeward Trails Animal Rescue ($35,781), the Campagna Center ($32,993), the Alexandria Seaport Foundation ($27,612) and the Alexandria A Cappella Collective ($22,509) rounded out the upper tier of citywide leaders.
In the three budget-based tiers that Spring2ACTion uses to award prizes, the Alexandria Singers won the small-organization tier (fewer than $250,000 in annual budget) at 371 donors, followed by the Alexandria A Cappella Collective (268) and Titan Robotics of Alexandria City High School (135). King Street Cats took the medium tier ($250,000 to $1 million) at 402 donors, with Casa Chirilagua (233) and the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (185) close behind. Housing Alexandria paced the large tier ($1 million-plus) at 361 donors, trailed by Homeward Trails Animal Rescue (288) and ALIVE! (280).
Animal rescues finish as one of the day's defining stories
Alexandria's animal-welfare organizations emerged as one of Spring2ACTion's breakout cohorts. King Street Cats' 402 donors were the single largest base of any participating nonprofit, and Homeward Trails Animal Rescue's 288 donors ranked second in the large tier. The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria drew 160 donors and $18,297, while Tails High cracked the small-tier top 10 at 114 donors.
A "Help Save Animals in 2026" free-agent fundraising page drew 64 donors, placing it fourth among 218 registered free-agent pages. Free agents — individuals, companies and informal teams raising money for a chosen nonprofit — were led by World Cup Special & More! at 133 donors and Reimagining Friendship Firehouse Museum at 99.
Early childhood and other collectives
Among the eight members of the new Kids' First Years early-childhood collective, ALIVE! led at $55,506 from 280 donors, followed by the Campagna Center at $32,993 from 141 donors and the Center for Alexandria's Children at $11,936 from 63 donors.
Context
Since its founding in 2011, Spring2ACTion — the only citywide giving day in the region — has raised more than $26 million for the Alexandria nonprofit sector. ACT for Alexandria set this year's $2.5 million goal as local nonprofits navigated rising demand for services alongside funding challenges and reduced capacity.
Presenting sponsors include Amazon and the city of Alexandria, with additional sponsorship support from AT&T, Kids' First Years, Sikich, Virginia Housing, Penny Post, Pippin Toy Co. and Red Barn Mercantile, Royal Restaurant, Goetzmann Nau Financial Partners, Branded Realities, Corcoran McEnearney, Wegmans, American Advertising Distributors of Northern Virginia, the Betsey R. Rosenbaum and Jon H. Rosenbaum Fund, Family First Law Group, the Frantz Family Fund, hrp Group, John Marshall Bank, The Seward Group of TTR Sotheby's International Realty, Transurban, United Bank and Virginia Tech.
The Alexandria Brief was a media partner for Spring2ACTion. ACT for Alexandria, launched in 2004, is Alexandria's community foundation.
