Golden Goose up for grabs on Giving Tuesday
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ALPENA -- On the heels of the upcoming popular shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday. This year, Giving Tuesday is on Nov. 28. Locally, the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan is helping to raise awareness and support for many nonprofits in the region.
"We look forward to Giving Tuesday every year. It is such a fun and uplifting event for our community, and we are always amazed by the incredible support shown to our local nonprofits," said CFNEM Executive Director Patrick Heraghty. "Last year, over $314,000 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 28th to make this year another successful year for the nonprofits in our area."
This year marks the Community Foundation's ninth year leading a regional 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. One hundred percent 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 28 as Giving Tuesday gifts as well."
Six years ago, Grant the Giving Tuesday Golden Goose was introduced as a fun way to bolster some friendly competition between nonprofits. The Giving Tuesday Golden Goose is awarded to the nonprofit raising the most money on Giving Tuesday and went last year to Besser Museum of Northeast Michigan. After spending nearly a year at the museum, Grant has made his annual migration back to the Community Foundation to await word on his 2023-24 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 a.m. on November 28. 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 a live online event on Dec. 6.
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. 28 to be counted as a Giving Tuesday donation.