Marjorie Maas is the executive director of SHARE Omaha and is spearheading the 2021 GivingTuesday402 campaign. Read on for her thoughts about GivingTuesday402 and its impacts on College Possible and the greater Omaha community.
Our metro area has a great opportunity to show generosity and gratefulness this month with the celebration of GivingTuesday402 Nov. 30. Yes, nonprofits will be grateful for donations, volunteers and patronage, but it is bigger than that. The spirit of Giving Tuesday, a global movement, is to show the strength and unity of communities through radical generosity. What work being done in the community moves you to gratitude? Figuring that out is key to moving us all forward.
College Possible’s dedication to idealism has always impressed me. I worked at College Possible Omaha in its first few years, and some of the tenets of devoting one’s self to thankfulness, delightfulness, optimism and other traits have stayed with me years after being in the office. So have the results. Results and measurement matter, and the impact shown by College Possible students and AmeriCorps members is to be lauded and celebrated. It moves me to gratitude for the work they do for college attendees.
This superb service to the community by College Possible and scores of other nonprofits doesn’t happen without great community support. So, on GivingTuesday402, let’s see what happens when we come together in a spirit of idealism and gratitude. Helping nonprofit organizations, who hold the community together through tireless work, meeting their budget and service goals for the year, is part of the Giving Tuesday magic. Last year, during a serious spike in the pandemic, Giving Tuesday’s national foundation’s research showed a 23% increase in U.S. participation — from increased cash donations to giving more tangible goods. Generous people continue to be generous, and they often want to support their community in many ways — all they are asking for is to be inspired to do so.
Inspiration runs deep at organizations like College Possible Omaha. The impact ranges from trajectory-changing work with students to individuals living out personal and family dreams. All you have to do is look back through this very column’s archive for success stories like those of Jose, Jasmine, Mallory and Ana.
SHARE Omaha powers the message of GivingTuesday402 and provides a simple call to action across the metro area to GIVE Nov. 30. SHARE Omaha makes it easy to support multiple organizations all in a few clicks. However, the inspiration to give comes from the 600+ nonprofits represented on SHAREomaha.org. The color of the campaign comes from the stories and images of our community coming together, such as the real-life, one-on-one moments shared by College Possible Omaha students and their coaches.
Show your gratitude for College Possible Omaha’s hard work on GivingTuesday, and find those other organizations addressing causes close to your heart and passions. Showing generosity yields more generosity. We as a metro area are capable of great things. Go enjoy GivingTuesday402 Nov. 30 and GIVE!
