Elgin-area nonprofits saw a surge in donations for the Giving Tuesday campaign, in large part thanks to an effort led for the second consecutive year by the Grand Victoria Foundation.

The #ILGive movement, the local offshoot of the worldwide Giving Tuesday social media movement on Nov. 29, raised $300,000 overall for 28 organizations in the Elgin area, plus a match of up to $5,000 each from the foundation, which also provided social media training for the nonprofits, foundation officials said.

The training was key, said Margaret Walter, administrator of member services for first-time participant Oak Crest Residence & Atrium Apartments in Elgin, which got about $11,400 in donations, including the $5,000 match.

“We did very well for our first time” she said. “We applied Facebook and lots of different social media, what we had learned about and how to utilize it (from the training). We had a Facebook page before the training, but we realized that this could help us greatly with Giving Tuesday.”

More than 80 percent of the participating nonprofits improved their Giving Tuesday fundraising compared with last year, and 30 percent more than doubled their totals, according to a news release from the foundation.

“In today’s uncertain social and economic climate, #ILGive is more important than ever,” said Nancy Fishman, the foundation’s executive director. “This was a powerful, communitywide effort — donors and nonprofits worked together to ensure that resources are sufficient to deliver critical services to people in Elgin. ”

The homeless shelter PADS of Elgin almost doubled its donations this year, raising $14,100 plus the $5,000 match, said Brittany Mitchell, special projects coordinator. The Giving Tuesday movement is successful because it elicits a sense of community in an easy-to-join, one-day effort.

“Awareness of it grew this year,” she said. “I think we’re all excited to see if even more people know about it next year.”

The #ILGive website at ilgive.com has a new feature that allows people to check how their favorite nonprofit did by clicking on “leaderboards.”

Most taxpayers have until Saturday to make charitable donations to be claimed for tax year 2016, according to online information from the Internal Revenue Service. Donations charged to a credit card on the last day of the year count for the 2016 tax year, even if the bill isn’t paid until 2017; checks to a charity count for 2016 as long as they are mailed by the last day of the year, the IRS states.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s website at illinoisattorneygeneral.gov has tips about how to research charities before donating.