Courtesy Photo Community Foundation will host 60 Nonprofits on Giving Tuesday.

On the heels of the upcoming popular shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, comes Giving Tuesday. Here at home, the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan (CFNEM) is helping to raise awareness and support for many local nonprofits.

“In what has been a tough year for so many, we are really looking forward to Giving Tuesday this year with its camaraderie, light-heartedness, and incredible support our communities show for our local nonprofits,” CFNEM Executive Director Patrick Heraghty said. “Last year over $233,000 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 30th to make this year another successful year for the nonprofits in our area.”

This year marks CFNEM’s seventh 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 60 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,” Heraghty said. “Donations to those funds will be counted on Nov. 30 as Giving Tuesday gifts as well.”

Four 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 Boys and Girls Club of Alpena. After spending nearly a year with the Club’s kids, Grant has migrated back to the Community Foundation to await word on his 2021-22 residency.

In addition to the four-county area that CFNEM serves, it also is the administrative arm for three affiliate community 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 a.m. on Nov. 30. 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 with participating nonprofits.

“This is a great opportunity for nonprofits to mobilize their supporters and rally them around their organization,” CFNEM Marketing Communications Director Christine Hitch said. “The more enthusiastically they promote their nonprofit for Giving Tuesday and utilize the tools we give them, particularly through social media, the more donations they are likely to receive.”

Hitch notes that 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 Nov. 30 to be counted as a Giving Tuesday donation.