Giving Tuesday will be observed on Dec. 3 this year, but people who make their donations any time this month are included in the 2019 fundraising effort, according to Golden Belt Community Foundation Director Christy Tustin.
This year, 90 organizations or charitable funds are eligible to receive donations, Tustin said.
With Thanksgiving coming later than usual, a host of unofficial holidays tied to Turkey Day are also pushed back this year. There’s Black Friday on Nov. 29, Small Business Saturday – and Great Bend’s Home for the Holidays parade and festivities – on Nov. 30, Cyber Monday on Dec. 2, and Giving Tuesday on Dec. 3.
Some people are confused that Giving Tuesday is happening in December but others enjoy the extra days for making a donation.
“We do not pick the day,” Tustin said. Since its inception, Giving Tuesday has always been the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
This year, Tustin is reminding prospective donors that they can give using their smartphones by texting the word “Golden” to 41411 to be connected to the online form where they can make a donation using a credit card, debit card or PayPal.
Helping communities
Originally, the GBCF celebrated Giving Tuesday by inviting the public to make donations to one or more of its endowed funds.
“Last year was the first year we opened Giving Tuesday to any charitable organization in our four-county area – Barton, Pawnee, Rush and Stafford,” Tustin said. “Along with that change, we let organizations choose whether they wanted to have the funds go to their endowment – if they had one with us – or go back to them to cover immediate needs, projects and programs they’re working on. Those two things really increased our participation last year, and so we continued it this year.”
A donors’ form shows all 90 of the eligible recipients, listed in alphabetical order in seven categories: animals, arts and humanities, community, education and youth, faith, health, and social services.
“A lot of people will get their giving form and as they scan it they say, ‘Oh, I forgot about them,’ and they’ll see a group they hadn’t thought about in a while,” Tustin said. “It is nice to have it all on one form.
“The most common way to get that form is just go to the website goldenbeltcf.org,” Tustin said. “People can call us or stop by the office at 1307 Williams St.”
Ellinwood location
On Dec. 3, several locations will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to accept donations from walk-in traffic. There is a new location this year at Ellinwood. The locations are:
• Hoisington Chamber of Commerce, 123 N. Main
• Ellinwood Heritage Center, 103 N. Main
• Larned Chamber of Commerce, 502 Broadway St.
• Golden Valley Inc., 302 Locust St., Burdett
• E-Z Mart, 1409 Main, La Crosse
• White’s Foodliner, 503 North U.S. 281, St. John
• Hometown Cafe, 205 S. Main, Stafford
The Golden Belt Community Foundation Office at 1307 William St. in Great Bend will be open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Incentives
Once again the GBCF board members have helped to provide funding for matching grants and other incentives, including some random drawings.
There will be a $2,000 “Most Generous City” grant awarded to support a community program or project to the community that donates the most money per-capita. There are also incentives for school fundraisers, for the organizations that raise the most money, and for organizations that have 100% of their board of directors donate.
