Give to the Max Day, Minnesota's one-day online giving extravaganza, started at midnight Thursday and has raised $6.5 million in its first seven hours.

Last year, the giving marathon raised $20 million for charities and schools in a 24-hour period,

Folks who go to GiveMN.org can donate to thousands of registered nonprofits and schools.

Up-to-the-minute totals, leaderboards and $120,000 in prizes for participating nonprofits help to turn the giving into a friendly competition.

Augsburg University was on top of the leaderboard at 7 a.m. with nearly $110,000 in donations with Second Harvest Heartland food shelf in second with $86,000.

Some nonprofits plan parties and events to celebrate:

Last year, a “Smash to the Max” event was held to benefit Spare Key, which helps families with seriously ill kids.

• Huge Improv Theater in Minneapolis will host 28 hours of live comedy.

• Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota will host an open rehearsal and a celebration reception at the Ballet Royale Minnesota studio in Lakeville.

• Springboard for the Arts and Can Can Wonderland are hosting a happy hour at an artist-inspired indoor mini-golf course with games, mobile art displays and special cocktails.

• Spare Key, a charity that covers mortgage and rent payments for families with sick children, is hosting Taste of the Skyway Walk in downtown St. Paul.

• Second Harvest Heartland food shelf, which last year raised $314,000 — the most of any charity — is hosting "Pack to the Max," a 24-hour food packing event with the aim of raising $350,000.

"Minnesotans are generous year-round, but I am always amazed at the level of generosity across our state on Give to the Max Day," said Jake Blumberg, executive director of the nonprofit GiveMN, which runs Give to the Max Day.

Since its inaugural event in 2009, Give to the Max Day has raised more than $150 million for more than 10,000 Minnesota-based causes. It currently charges a 6.9 percent transaction fee.

GiveMN organizers say that charities rely on it "to help shatter the old-school fundraising model and connect more givers with more causes than ever before."

The day has been plagued with technical troubles, and its website has faltered to some degree three of the past four years. This time around, GiveMN has more confidence the process will run smoothly.

After technical problems last year that resulted in a bare-bones site for several hours, organizers conducted an extensive postmortem to identify what exactly overloaded the system managed by its Austin, Texas-based software partner, Kimbia. The company has since made repairs to ease traffic flow.

Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.

Shannon Prather • 612-673-4804