Hydrocarbons Pave the Way for Pick.Click.Give.: A statewide giving campaign facilitated by oil royalties.

• Author: Newman, Amy
• Position: OIL & GAS

As of February 28, the market value of the Alaska Permanent Fund was $75.6 billion, of which $52 billion is principal, or the seed that grows investment earnings. Today, approximately one-third of the principal comes from earnings redeposited as inflation proofing, one-third comes from special appropriations, and one-third comes directly from the constitutionally required minimum of 25 percent of oil royalty proceeds.

Alaska Permanent Fund earnings come from investments in stocks, bonds, equities, and real estate, but the investment dollars come from--and started with--oil, specifically an initial deposit in 1977 of $734,000 that launched the fund.

Thus every dollar paid out of the Alaska Permanent Fund has ties to Alaska's oil industry. The highly anticipated annual dividends are only possible because of the North Slope's vast resource wealth, and they disperse monies generated by oil operations through every community in the state.

Aside from Permanent Fund Dividends (PFD), direct and indirect jobs and wages, and other oil and gas industry spending, oil money also flows to Alaskans in the form of philanthropic donations directly from oil field owners and operators. ConocoPhillips Alaska typically contributes $3 million to $5 million each year. Hilcorp Alaska donates on a similar scale, but the company lets employees choose which causes to support. The 2021 Christmas bonus gave each Hilcorp employee $25,000 for individual donations, pumping an extra $16 million to Alaska nonprofits that year.

The same giving strategy lets every Alaskan, working for Hilcorp or not, support their favorite charities while applying for the PFD. Along with guestions designed to confirm eligibility, applicants are asked one simple question that can have a huge impact:

Do they want to donate a portion of their PFD to an Alaska nonprofit?

The late Representative BillThomas of Haines introduced legislation in 2008 to create the PFD Charitable Contributions Program. The idea was to give Alaskans an easy and convenient way to support eligible nonprofit organizations, the University of Alaska campuses, and community foundations through their PFDs while capitalizing on the collective impact of those donations.

"We wanted to grow the total number of givers in Alaska, increase the amount that was given by Alaskans, and raise the understanding and knowledge of the power of individual philanthropy," says Laurie Wolf, president and CEO of The Foraker Group, which drafted the legislation that became the Pick.Click. Give. program.

Former Governor Sarah Palin signed the bill into law in May 2008, and in 2009, the first time Pick.Click. Give. appeared on the PFD application, Alaskans donated $468,067 to 333 eligible organizations. In 2010 former Governor Sean Parnell signed a bill that removed the three-year sunset provision and made Pick.Click. Give. a permanent fixture in Alaska's philanthropic landscape.

Fourteen years later, Pick.Click.Give. averages $2.3 million in...