Southwest Georgia experiences mixed on Giving Tuesday

ALBANY — Giving Tuesday was observed this week for the fifth year as a way to draw attention to the relevance of donations to nonprofit organizations while individuals are contributing their dollars during the holidays.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany was among several Southwest Georgia nonprofits that participated in this year’s campaign. Marvin Laster, the organization’s CEO, said Giving Tuesday offered an opportunity to move toward its $25,000 end-of-year campaign.

The Boys & Girls Club staff, board and alumni were challenged to go to social media and persuade their followers to give to the multiple programs currently in place for Albany area youths.

The overall tally was not immediately available Wednesday, but Laster said one Boys & Girls alumnus had reached out to social media contacts and raised $2,500.

The effort of that one individual alone indicates supporters of the organization embraced the concept of Giving Tuesday.

“We are hopeful we will get to our end-of-year goal,” the CEO said. “We are using this as a launching pad to create opportunities. It gives an opportunity for people to make an investment.”

This year was the first time the Boys & Girls Clubs participated in Giving Tuesday, and Laster indicated enough interest was shown to continue the effort.

Flint River Habitat for Humanity was more actively involved in the promotion of Georgia Gives Day on Nov. 17 but was counted among local Giving Tuesday participants.

“We did a little bit (of promotion), but did not put a lot of effort into it,” said Family Services Coordinator Jennifer Hatcher. “We had one donation (on Tuesday).”

This year’s Georgia Gives Day campaign reported a record fundraising year with $3.9 million given to organizations throughout the state.

Albany Advocacy Resource Center also participated, focusing primarily on awareness. The ARC’s social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram shared messages and stories of inclusion, while Development Director Erin Freeman traveled to different partner locations to take photos with a selfie frame using the hashtag #InclusionLivesHere and sharing stories of the importance of inclusion for individuals with disabilities in the community.

“It went really well,” Freeman said. “I visited 12 sites with the selfie board. It was a nice day to focus on the mission and sharing with some folks who had become detached or were not familiar with us.”

The focus was shifted away somewhat from fundraising due to the ARC’s ongoing holiday campaign, but the organization was taking donations online while also raising awareness of disability advocacy issues. Individuals participating were invited to change their profile photos for the duration of the campaign.

The hope is by raising awareness, there may be potential donors who are compelled to give later. Angel Tree, the ARC’s Christmas gift program, has received recent interest as a result of Giving Tuesday outreach.

“This (awareness effort) tells you: ‘This is what your support does,’” Freeman said.

She added that the social media push was certainly something the organization will be doing again, likely in the spring.

“We are just putting our little toe into the social media world, and it was a great day to get out (to see those we serve),” Freeman said.

In recent weeks, a bump in the enthusiasm for nonprofits in general has surfaced, she said.

“The nonprofit (interest) since the election is bigger than I ever have witnessed before,” Freeman said.

Totals were not available Wednesday on the amount the ARC was able to raise on Tuesday.

The Albany Museum of Art participated in Giving Tuesday but received no donations. Cancer Coalition of South Georgia, a part of Horizons Community Solutions, was also listed as one of the participants on the Giving Tuesday website but in fact did not participate this year.

The Giving Tuesday site reports that, in 2015, 700,000 people raised $116 million in more than 70 countries.