UPDATED: 2 p.m. Friday

Once again, Northfield made out like a bandit.

Thursday's annual Give to the Max Day saw thousands of donors hand over their hard-earned money to support area nonprofits. 

For the third straight year, St. Olaf College was the top college/university for donations. More than 1,300 people donated $233,351 to St. Olaf. The top spot garnered a $12,500 bonus for the college.

"We are deeply thankful to the alumni, parents, and friends who made this happen," said Tracy Fossum, director of the St. Olaf Fund. "Their enthusiastic generosity helps provide the margin of excellence that distinguishes the St. Olaf experience from the rest."

Rice County Habitat for Humanity raised nearly $18,000 on the backs of 41 donors and Prairie's Edge Humane Society raised $9,100.

Sandy Vesledahl with PEHS said that went above and beyond the group's goal of $6,000. She said PEHS received donations from Las Vegas, Missouri and as far as Austrailia. Prairie's Edge held its annual Spay-ghetti dinner Thursday night at the Eagles Club and received attention through giveMN's (which runs GTMD) live broadcast to help push them to their total. The power of the web played a role, too, Vesledahl said.

"Social media works and we were all over it yesterday," she told Patch. "We are already planning our strategy for next year!"

Northfield received some statewide "Golden Tickets," which is an hourly drawing that rewards select nonprofits with a bonus $1,000 based on a random drawing of donors in that given hour. St. Olaf College and Prairie Creek Community School both received the bonus.

The Cannon River STEM School in Faribault received the $10,000 super-size K-12 Golden Ticket.

Northfield nonprofits were also eligible for Northfield-only Golden Tickets through Northfield GIVES, a collaborative effort among nonprofits and spearheaded by 5th Bridge. The money was donated from area businesses, organizations and individuals.

Here are the results of the two drawings.

First drawing:

• The $250 Golden Ticket, sponsored by Cannon Valley Veterinary Clinic, will go to Rice County Habitat for Humanity thanks to the donation by Mary Albright of Minneapolis.
• A $500 Golden Ticket, sponsored by the Northfield Area Foundation, will go to the Friends of Northfield Library thanks to the donation by Michelle Reese of Northfield
• A $500 Golden Ticket, sponsored by College City Beverage, will go to Laura Baker Services Association thanks to the donation by Cheryl Buck

Second drawing:

• The first $500 Golden Ticket, sponsored by Holden Farms, goes to Hope Center as a result of adonation by Sari Abelson of Northfield.
• The second $500 Golden Ticket, sponsored by Northfield Area Foundation, goes to the Northfield Union of Youth as a result of a donation by Melissa Haars of Northfield.
• And the Grand Prize Golden Ticket of $1,000, sponsored by an anonymous donor, goes to (drumroll please) … Healthy Community Initiative, as a result of a donation by Richard Kleber of Northfield.