The Season of Giving

As the holidays are coming, many naturally think about how to give back. We think about ways to do this financially with end-of-year giving and we think about volunteering our time. Families, offices, schools, and extracurricular groups take time to do either or both financial or time giving, which can be highlights of the year, lasting memories, and traditions.
Everyone has their own style on how to give. Some like spreading it out among many groups, while others feel their gift means more if it is a larger amount to a limited number of nonprofits. Some people have charities that are close to their heart because of a personal circumstance or because they know someone working at the organization. There’s no wrong approach to giving, and we certainly have no shortage of worthy causes in and around the Midway.
The Midway and our surrounding neighborhoods are home to many nonprofits – including many with a statewide or regional reach. Some reasons for the abundance are the proximity to the State Capitol and to be in the middle of the Twin Cities. The Midway Chamber of Commerce has also benefitted from their locations as many are members and active in our programming.
Every December, the Midway Chamber teams up with Hamline University to create a Celebration of Nonprofits event. The event is a half day with a morning panel, a nonprofit expo, and a lunch featuring a keynote speaker. This year, the event will occur at Hamline on Dec. 15 and feature the Wilder Foundation’s Armando Camacho as the keynote. In the morning, we will talk about the importance of data and how nonprofits can use it to their advantage. The event is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about nonprofits in our community and to learn how to run a nonprofit more effectively. Attendees also make a donation, which goes to one lucky nonprofit at the end of the luncheon.
The past two years have been hard on many nonprofits as so many donors have had to tighten up their finances and contributions. The pandemic has also caused many nonprofits an added burden in trying to provide services. Like other organizations, this has meant a rethinking among many on how to best run daily operations and also long-term planning. But one thing that has always remained is the importance of reaching out to donors and volunteers. In the fourth quarter, it is estimated that 20-25% of nonprofit fundraising is conducted with many individual organizations seeing much higher numbers.
As 2021 ends, I hope you can take time to think about how you would like to help your favorite charities and you can help us all show how much the Midway neighborhood cares.