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We’re thrilled to tell you that our campaign raised over $267,000. We believe this makes #GazaStarts the biggest crowdfunding campaign in the Arab world!

More important, we surpassed our $250,000 goal, which means that we can keep Mercy Corps’ Gaza Sky Geeks fully operational for another year. We will be able to maintain all of our amazing staff, and organize a key outreach event for our young entrepreneurs in 2015.

This was truly a global effort, with donations coming in from 60 countries and territories including the U.K., Poland, Israel, Hong Kong, and many more. Donors in the U.S. made the most significant contributions of any single country, giving $121,300 or 45 percent of the campaign total. Donors in the Middle East were also leaders in generosity; $118,700+ or 44 percent of the total came from donors in Jordan, Kuwait, the Palestinian Territories, the UAE, and other countries in the region.

Check out this breakdown of our donations:

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Check out our other charts for Europe and the Middle East below.

We were inspired by the big power of many people coming together to make a difference. While we had some amazing large contributions, half of the 853 total donations were less than $60, and the most frequently given amount was $100. We received 681 donations of $100 or less, totaling $34,179, a major slice of the campaign total that motivated bigger donors to get on board.

This campaign was about hundreds of people with donations large and small working to achieve a common goal: helping the young entrepreneurs of Gaza launch their startups and build brighter futures.

The campaign put us in touch with many strategic partners supporting our work for the first time, including Skoll Foundation, Bayt.com, Jabbar Internet Group, APIC, and many others! It also reaffirmed the commitment of existing partners: Google for Entrepreneurs, Bank of Palestine, PalTel, and others.

We are excited about what the success of #GazaStarts means for these smart, tech-savvy, and entrepreneurial youth. There is tremendous potential in the youth of Gaza, and we’re giving it the resources it needs to thrive.
Thank you for everyone’s help in making #GazaStarts a success!

Thanks to you, #GazaStarts!

Focus on MENA

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Focus on Europe

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