Courtesy Photo Grant the Giving Tuesday Golden Goose is seen in this photo provided by the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan.

On the heels of the upcoming popular shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday, which happens Tuesday.

Locally, the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan is helping to raise awareness and support for many nonprofits in the region.

“This year marks a full decade of Giving Tuesday Northeast Michigan, raising over $1.8 million since we started this local campaign in 2015,” said Community Foundation Development and Marketing Director Christine Hitch. “Our communities are incredibly generous. We’ve seen this every year, and we hope our communities will show up again on Dec. 3 to make this 10th year a great success for the Community Foundation and for the nonprofits in our area.”

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, the Community Foundation 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 the participating nonprofits.

Hitch also noted that, in addition to the participating organizations, donors may also make donations to any fund at the Community Foundation or its affiliate foundations as a Giving Tuesday gift.

“While we have many organizations participating in the campaign, (the Community Foundation) also holds more than 540 charitable funds that support many different causes and organizations,” said Hitch. “Donations to those funds will be counted as Giving Tuesday gifts on Dec. 3, as well.”

Seven 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 the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena.

After spending nearly a year at their facility among the hustle and bustle of children, Grant has made his annual migration back to the Community Foundation to await word on his 2024-25 residency.

In addition to the four-county area that the Community Foundation 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 has nonprofits in their communities participating, as well.

Giving Tuesday Northeast Michigan begins at midnight on Dec. 3. The public will be able to make donations for a full 24 hours and monitor the total amount donated online throughout the day. The grand total raised and the total amount donated to each organization will be announced on Dec. 11.

While Giving Tuesday Northeast Michigan is primarily an online giving event, donors are welcome to drop off checks at the Community Foundation offices, 100 N. Ripley St., Suite F, Alpena.

Checks must be dropped off on Dec. 3 to be counted as a Giving Tuesday donation.