It was a busy week of solicitations, starting on Black Friday, then Cyber Monday and finally Giving Tuesday. Though the commerce marketing was too robust to tabulate, more than 100 specific requests came into our inbox or through the mail on Giving Tuesday asking for donations to various causes, each of which have their own merits in serving different facets of the community.
Over the last nine years, Giving Tuesday has grown into a billion dollar-plus day national program. In fact, it was estimated in 2020 more than $2.47 billion was given nationwide to local charities from more than 34 million people and businesses.
Locally, the Shore Gives More campaign serves as the primary Giving Tuesday giving effort – led by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore (CFES) — as most nonprofits are associated in some fashion with the campaign.
The Shore Gives More effort has grown by more than 4,000% in seven years, starting at $7,500 in 2015 and this year raising in excess of $300,249 over 24 hours. Last year the event raised $269,627, representing an 11% single-year increase.
Under the Shore Gives More umbrella were 121 organizations. The top nonprofit recipient of donations this year was the Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County with $16,065. In Worcester County, local nonprofits raised a total of $93,335 with the Worcester County Education Foundation – the fundraising arm of the school system — receiving $14,435 and the second-place participant, the Art League of Ocean City, gathering $13,920.
The fundraising effort spearheaded by CFES continues to impress each year with its growth. The coordination, marketing and organization behind the campaign facilitates contributions to the various charities in a timely fashion. While the dollars are significant and will help them carryout their respective missions, the outreach and exposure the effort provides to local charities is immeasurable.
