Why Give Miami Day means more than ever this year | Opinion
The cost of living has gone up everywhere, especially in South Florida. From increased housing costs to higher grocery bills, families in Miami are feeling the squeeze. And local nonprofits have quietly worked to help those in the community who need it most.
Budget cuts or worries that funding will dry up are affecting many of those same non-profits in our community — just when residents need their help the most.
That’s why this year’s Give Miami Day, hosted by The Miami Foundation, is especially important. The Miami Foundation has been around since 1967 and invested over $650M to help our community thrive.
Give Miami Day, which runs for 24 hours, is the largest single-city giving event in the country. The big day is Thursday, through midnight, but early giving is already under way. This is its 14th year, and it continues to grow.
Registered nonprofits are eligible to receive donations to help with funding for the new year. More than 1,300 nonprofits are participating this year. Want to make a change in your community? This is an easy way to start. The Give Miami Day site offers a digital assistant to help donors identify a cause and organization they want to contribute to — the possibilities include everything from animal welfare to education to faith-based efforts and youth programs. The money goes directly to the nonprofit of your choice.
The Miami Herald was an early support of Give Miami Day, asking the community to donate to our annual holiday Wish Book drive to help make the wishes of those in need come true.
Last year’s Give Miami fundraising event raised $39.5 million from over a 100,000 donations, the Miami Herald reported. That was a 13% increase from the previous year. The number of donors also rose, jumping 16%. Miami is always a generous community. The generosity last year was awe-inspiring. Now it’s that time again.
“This is our moment to stand together and give back. The unity and goodness that is unleashed has a massive ripple effect on every part of Miami. There’s no other day like it,” Miami Foundation President and CEO Rebecca Fishman Lipsey told the Miami Herald.
We agree.
Over half of the organizations participating this year are operating on shoestring budgets of less than $250,000. Many are counting on the same generosity of previous years’ donors to help their organizations.
This year poses special challenges for non-profits. Miami-Dade’s allocations to non-profits in next year’s budget were under tremendous pressure amid a push for fiscal responsibility and efficient government. And federal programs like food stamps are also being cut, increasing need in this community and others across the country.
That’s one reason that community drives such as Give Miami Day are so important.
Donations for Give Miami Day start at $25 and can be submitted online at GiveMiamiDay.org. In order to help donations go further, many sponsors are offering matching gifts, making even the most modest contribution stretch further.
The need for nonprofits in the community is undeniable. Miami’s growth has brought prosperity for some, but it has deepened the financial divide for others. As any non-profit can tell you, Give Miami Day can really be transformative.
This is more than a fundraising event. It’s a demonstration of our power as a community to extend a helping hand to others. That has only become more important as our community grows.
For many, times are tough, and while Give Miami Day has always been about service to the community, this year is about helping organizations that are, in many ways, the bedrock of our community. When key services suffer budget cuts, nonprofits step up. And on Give Miami Day, we have a chance to step up for those organizations.
This week in Miami, we have a chance to do something real for our neighbors. It’s our annual reminder that we are stronger together.
