Givemn.org Introduces Spotlight Filter to Benefit LGBTQ Organizations for Annual Holiday

Since Give to the Max Day (GTTMD) was established in 2009, over 14,000 non-profits and schools in Minnesota have benefited from the magnanimous holiday. In fact, within the first 24 hours of launching, Give to the Max Day generated $14 million in direct donations and has since grown substantially. 

What is Give to the Max Day?

“Give to the Max Day is Minnesota’s annual giving holiday that really celebrates generosity across the state,” Jake Blumberg, the executive director of givemn.org – the website dedicated to Give to the Max Day’s efforts every year. 

This year, Give To The Max Day (GTTMD) falls on November 14 to ring in the 17th year of the giving holiday. Since its inception in 2009, GTTMD has used a digital platform. 

“Givemn was created initially to help Minnesota non-profits and schools raise money online. Because in 2009, that wasn’t a thing like it is now, and Give to the Max Day was the announcement event for this new platform,” Blumberg said. 

Following this mass success, givemn.org grew its reach, and GTTMD expanded into a nationally and internationally recognized holiday. Thanks to the website’s user-friendly interface, everyone who visits givemn.org can see every organization, non-profit, and school registered for participation in GTTMD. Blumberg mentioned last year Minnesota received donations from every county in Minnesota, all 50 states, and 34 countries. 

The website is an excellent resource for donors and participants, but the forces responsible for curating such a user-friendly interface fall upon those working for givemn.org and GTTMD.

“What givemn across the whole organization is doing throughout Give to the Max Day is supporting both donors and organizations in raising and giving money. We partner with our platform provider, Mightycause, to run the actual campaign,” Blumberg said. 

In conjunction with Mightycause, the platforms share the story about GTTMD and offer customer service to interested donors and participants. Blumberg noted that for 72 hours straight, givemn staff “work around the clock to support Minnesota’s day of giving.”

How is This Year Different?

“Last year, more than $34 million were donated to nearly 7,000 organizations across the state,” Blumberg said. “We’ve increased and broken the previous year’s record for the last six years.”

Even though this year’s economy took a fair share of hits and bruises concerning fluctuating gas prices, a semi-recovery from the pandemic, and a few natural disasters, Blumberg is proud to highlight a unique new feature on givemn.org.

This search filter highlights organizations “that have effectively raised their hand and said that they are led by or primarily serve the LGBTQ+ community and so our donors who are looking for organizations to support that are led by or serving the LGBTQ+ community.”

Blumberg is unsure if this year’s donations will break last year’s records, but he is hopeful.

“I think it’s really hard to predict, [if] it would follow the trends that were seen across the country that this year the number went down a little bit just because of what giving looks like across the country this year. But you never know until the generosity of Minnesotans can get involved. So we still have a lot of hope that dollars will be donated and no matter what, every dollar that gets donated makes a huge difference. So there are thousands of organizations that are supported through that campaign,” said Blumberg.

How to Use the LGBTQ+ Spotlight Feature

“There’s now actually a drop-down filter that [donors] can use to find organizations that have raised their hand and said [the LGBTQ feature] fits their description. We did this a couple of years ago for BIPOC, led and serving organizations,” Blumberg added, including that feature helped collect millions of dollars in donations toward those causes. “We are hoping that LGBTQ+ organizations benefit from the fact that donors can specifically search for them through that filter on our website.”

If donors want to donate to more than one organization with this spotlight feature, all they need to do is utilize the shopping cart feature. 

“It’s incredibly easy to donate and find lots of organizations. We actually have a shopping cart feature which allows donors to support more than one cause with their generosity. More than 90% of donors will choose to make a gift to more than one organization, using our tools,” Blumberg stated.   

Among those organizations is the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus (TCGMC). The Executive Director of the TCGMC, Kevin Stocks, explained this new feature and how it will help the troupe. 

“GTTMD gives Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus an intentional campaign with a large platform through which we can rally our constituents and supporters. Minnesotans are incredibly philanthropic, and an opportunity to engage with that platform so donors can support various organizations in one stop is one way we can make it easy for folks to support our work. Not to mention the bonus funds that are available!” Stocks said. 

Stocks shared that when TCGMC participates in GTTMD as recipients, they entertain donors with a story or theme about their group.

“We want to clearly demonstrate how our work impacts our community, and this is an opportunity for us to dig into our history and our current work to show a compelling case for support. As a singing organization, we like to produce a jingle to make things fun, which also engages our singers,” Stocks said. 

Stocks also mentioned that the organization needs “folks to support our performances and be part of our community, artistry, and advocacy!”

The Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus has several goals for this year that GTTMD can make possible, including raising $10,000 and expanding their platform, which allows gay men to build communities through music, and share their message with the public.

In addition to working towards these goals and achievements, Stocks says the donations from GTTMD help the chorus pay for venue rent for performances and rehearsal spaces and pay for three full-time staff members throughout the year.

Gift to the Max During Give to The Max

If you want to learn more about gifting to the max during this year’s Give to the Max Day, visit givemn.org for more information.