Making sure your money goes far on Give to the Max Day

Baihly Warfield WDIO

Give to the Max Day in Minnesota

What you need to know to maximize your donation on Give to the Max Day.

Give to the Max Day, a statewide effort to spotlight Minnesota nonprofits, is celebrating 15 years on Nov. 16.

It was started in 2009 and raised about $14 million that year. In 2022, the number rose to around $34 million.

As nonprofit organizations make a push for donors on Thursday, UMD Senior Development Officer Bryce Nixon share a few tips to make sure your dollars make the biggest difference.

Think about causes and organizations you regularly support
Visit organizations’ websites to learn about current needs and matches
Use GiveMN‘s tools
Make a giving budget
Leave room for a new organization or two

Nixon also says nonprofits in Greater Minnesota don’t generally get as much funding, so they run on donors’ support. The same goes for BIPOC-led and serving and LGBTQ+-led and serving groups.

The IRS offers a tool to verify an organization’s tax-exempt status, and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office also has a charity search tool.

To research groups’ mission, goals, and accountability measures, Nixon suggests the Minnesota Charities Review Council and Candid/GuideStar.