11/17/2022
On the heels of the upcoming popular shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, comes Giving Tuesday. This year, Giving Tuesday is on November 29. Here at home, the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan (CFNEM) is helping to raise awareness and support for many local nonprofits.
“We look forward to Giving Tuesday every year. With its camaraderie, light-heartedness, and the incredible support shown for our local nonprofits, it is such a positive and uplifting community event,” said CFNEM Executive Director Patrick Heraghty. “Last year over $365,000 was raised in 24 hours. There is never a way to know what each year will bring, but we hope the community will show up on November 29th to make this year another successful year for the nonprofits in our area.”
This year marks the Community Foundation’s eighth year leading a local event here in northeast Michigan. Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving meant to harness the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to celebrate generosity worldwide. The 24-hour giving event is held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) to kick-off the holiday giving season. The hope is that people will set aside a few minutes from holiday shopping to give back to their community through the charities and causes they support.
To help the 62 participating local nonprofits take part in Giving Tuesday, CFNEM will provide the technical infrastructure through its website and social media to showcase and manage donations, all at no cost to the participating organizations. 100% of every donation will go to the nonprofit of the donors’ choice. Donors can visit cfnem.org on Giving Tuesday and make donations to any, some, or all of these nonprofits.
Heraghty also noted that in addition to the participating organizations, donors may also make donations to any fund at CFNEM or its affiliate foundations as a Giving Tuesday gift.
“While we have many organizations participating in the campaign, CFNEM also holds 500 different charitable funds that support so many different causes and organizations,” said Heraghty. “Donations to those funds will be counted on November 29 as Giving Tuesday gifts as well.”
Five years ago, Grant the Giving Tuesday Golden Goose was introduced as a fun way to bolster some friendly competition between nonprofits. Grant is awarded to the nonprofit raising the most money on Giving Tuesday and went last year to the Alpena Community College Foundation. After spending nearly a year at ACC, Grant has migrated back to the Community Foundation to await word on his 2022-23 residency.
In addition to the four-county area that CFNEM serves, it also is the administrative arm for three affiliate foundations covering a five-county area. Those affiliates include the Iosco County Community Foundation, the North Central Michigan Community Foundation, and the Straits Area Community Foundation. Each affiliate has nonprofits in their communities participating as well.
Giving Tuesday Northeast Michigan begins at 12:00 a.m. on November 29. The public will be able to make donations for a full 24 hours, and monitor the total amount donated online throughout the day. The total amount donated to each organization will be announced at an online live event after Giving Tuesday.
While Giving Tuesday Northeast Michigan is primarily an online giving event, donors are welcome to drop off checks at the CFNEM offices at 100 N. Ripley, Suite F, in Alpena. Checks must be dropped off on November 29 to be counted as a Giving Tuesday donation.
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