Giving Tuesday supports nonprofits
Agencies that support nonprofits are urging residents to take part in Giving Tuesday today — no matter where the money goes.
“We always encourage people to give to nonprofits and to the United Way so that we can allocate those dollars to our agencies,” said Jason Duren, administrative coordinator of services for the United Way of Southeast Arkansas. “But anyone doing good work out there needs to be supported.”
Giving Tuesday was started in 2012 and is a day set aside to draw the public’s attention to the needs of nonprofit agencies across the United States and now the globe where 80 countries participate, according to the organization’s website. Last year, 33 million people gave almost $3 billion, with much of the total generated by small donations.
Duren noted that the United Way is in the middle of its annual fundraising campaign, and while he said he wanted to avoid confusion between the Giving Tuesday event and the local agency’s own efforts to raise funds, there are similarities in the two efforts.
“We have calls to action,” Duren said, “and because of the publicity of Giving Tuesday and the ease with which many people can give on the various social media platforms, such as PayPal, Venmo and Cash App, those calls to action are easier now. People don’t have to go looking for their checkbooks. They can do it almost instantly.”
Duren said any amount that people can give is helpful.
“Our 20 nonprofit agencies do a lot of good in our community,” Duren said. “And they require funding to make that happen. So even a little bit adds up to a whole lot and it can change lives.”
Jessica Ford, chief communications officer with the Arkansas Community Foundation, which has a branch in Pine Bluff, had similar remarks when it came to the public taking part in Giving Tuesday today.
“On Giving Tuesday, we encourage our donors to give to nonprofits,” she said. “Our motto is ‘just give.’ It doesn’t have to be to us.”
Ford said the foundation website has a nonprofit directory allowing the public to search for nonprofits by county, city, zip code, cause and name.
“Give to what you care about,” she said, “and hopefully we make that easy with our directory.”