Roseville, Today It's Your Chance To 'Give To The Max'

The third annual Give to the Max Day, the Great Minnesota Give Together is running today (Nov. 16) for a 24-hour period that began at midnight. 

Give to the Max Day, at www.GiveMN.org, is an effort in efficiently streamlining the solicitation and processing of contributions to 501(c)3 nonprofits.

The benefits of online donation that I appreciate most include the following:

• Online donation minimizes the cost of fundraising and maximizes the amount of my donation kept by the nonprofit.
• My online contributions through GiveMN.org on Give to the Max Day MN, help my chosen nonprofits qualify for additional financial donations and prize grants.
• A searchable database enables me to identify nonprofits I want to support.
• I can use the searchable database to identify nonprofits with matching grants available to amplify my contributions.
• I receive instant E-mail tax receipts for my donations.

If you are a shopper, the Mall of America is hosting Give to the Max Day MN, and you can attend live performances and receive discounts from some mall retailers. A full list of the benefits to individuals using GiveMN.org is available at http://givemn.razoo.com/p/for_individuals.

My E-mail is inundated with requests from organizations seeking donations. I am very lucky. I have health, education, housing, sufficient food, and enough income to buy essentials and occasional cups of coffee at a local shop.  I fervently believe that it is my responsibility as a citizen to share my good fortune with others, so Give to the Max Day through GiveMN.org is tailor-made for me to donate to many of those nonprofits I want to help support. 

 I am compiling a list of the donations I made last year, to use as a basis for my 2011 contributions. I use the electronic, searchable catalog of nonprofits that is available at http://givemn.razoo.com/giving_catalog to identify other possible recipients.

Broad categories include animals, arts and culture, children and youth, community and society, economic development, education, environment, health, humanitarian aid, international, religion, science and technology. Because needs change, and I have limited expendable income, I will prioritize my list. I cannot support every group I think is worthwhile.

 The minimum donation on GiveMN.org is $10. I use Give to the Max donations as holiday, birthday, graduation, and anniversary gifts.

We all have expendable income (coffee, pop, candy, cigarettes, movies, pizza, that garage sale “find”, etc.). I urge everyone to make at least one donation through Give to the Max Day.

As Mahatma Gandhi is so often quoted, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”