We hope Black Friday + Cyber Monday didn’t drain your wallet – because today is #GivingTuesday – a.k.a. the globally-celebrated day for giving back to your community through gifts + monetary donations.

Last year, Giving Tuesday brought in $274 million in online gifts to local nonprofits, up 50% from 2016. Charitable giving is on the rise – but where to start? There are more than 80 organizations here in the Asheville area that you can donate to. You might already have an organization in mind, but if you’re not sure where to start, you can search for the list of participating local nonprofits on Giving Tuesday’s website.

And – if you use AmazonSmile instead of Amazon.com when making purchases today – the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the item price to the organization you choose (if you don’t have a charity in mind, search “Asheville, NC” to see a list of participating orgs).

Pro-Tip: On Tuesday starting at 8 a.m., PayPal will match all donations up to $7 million for nonprofit organizations. Donations made closer to 8 a.m. are more likely to be matched. Last year the $7 million mark was reached by 8:30 a.m. Check out the specifics here.

While #GivingTuesday is a nation-wide movement, many Asheville nonprofits are running special campaigns including locally matching (UNC Asheville), asking for hands-on volunteering (AMOS), looking for special donations such as food (MANNA) or speciality products (Humane Society) + more. We rounded up 15+ asks from local organizations. Plus, we rounded up some tips on making your dollar go further.

And if you plan on giving local, here’s a few organizations and how you can help:

🎁AB Tech Foundation | The A-B Tech Foundation Supports students, faculty and staff success by providing financial support when other funds and resources are not necessarily available. Last year the foundation awarded 426 scholarships totally over $500,000.

🎁Asheville Community Yoga | Asheville Community Yoga gives to the city of Asheville by providing a place of individual + community yoga as well as other mindfulness programs that are all donation based. You can give back by making a one time donation, or by signing up to be a Bliss Keeper as a recurring donor. You can also give back to ACY by shopping at Ten Thousand Villages, who will donate 15% for anyone who says Asheville Community Yoga at checkout.

🎁Asheville GreenWorks | You can contribute to Asheville GreenWork’s Giving Tuesday fundraiser by making a monetary donation on Facebook, share their fundraiser on social media, post an #unselfie that says who you support.

🎁Asheville Humane Society | Asheville Humane Society relies on donations to be able to help provide second chances to animals in our community. They impact the lives of more than 11,000 animals each year.

🎁Asheville Museum of Science | AMOS is participating in Giving Tuesday by asking community members to give their time, skills, voice, goods, dollars, or whatever they can.

🎁Center For Craft | By giving to the Center for Craft on giving tuesday you are giving a gift that allows the continuation of craft programs in universities across the country to encourage the best and brightest upcoming craft artists + to develop innovative programs with the biggest impact.

🎁Dogwood Alliance | In honor of Giving Tuesday, five businesses will be supporting Dogwood Alliance through November and December to help protect our forests. Visit Gaia Herbs, Foggy Mountain Brew Pub, Motion Makers, Foothills Brewing + One World Brewing as they will all be chipping in a portion of sales to Dogwood Alliance.

🎁Eblen Charities | Eblen works to provide all kinds of services for those in need in our community. Any donation will help provide vidal medical services, housing, education + more.

🎁Habitat for Humanity | You can donate in a variety of ways to Habitat for Humanity including: a one time donation, sponsoring a day of construction or the building of a home or by donating construction materials, tools, services, land or furniture.

🎁MANNA Food Bank | You can make a monetary donation or donate food. MANNA is currently looking for a donation of two reliable vehicles to help the mobile outreach staff be able to better serve the community. Last year, 9,183 individuals donated to MANNA. Every dollar that is donated allows us to distribute enough food for 3.5 meals

🎁Our Voice | A donation to Our Voice helps them to fulfill their mission to create a community free of sexual violence by serving all individuals in Buncombe County affected by sexual assault + abuse through counseling, advocacy, and education. Farm Burger Downtown will be donating a portion of sales made on Tuesday from 4–9 p.m. to Our Voice.

🎁Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation | Last year, supporters of this foundation made it the biggest + most successful Giving Tuesday yet. The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation is asking everyone to participate in the PayPal matching campaign to make this year more successful than last.

🎁Pisgah Legal | When giving to Pisgah Legal today, they will be supporting the Justice for Woman campaign and you can win a variety of gifts for your contribution.

🎁UNC Asheville | This year UNC Asheville is inviting all alumni, parents, faculty, staff + friends to give back to the university on Giving Tuesday. Last year the community raised $62,432 for our city’s university. This year the goal is $75,000. Donors are encouraged to give to the part of the university that matters most to them such as scholarships, athletics, an academic department, or a very specific cause of your choosing.

🎁 United Way of Asheville & Buncombe County | Education, health and financial stability of everyone in our community is at the center of United Way’s mission. In 2017 alone, over 3,000 Buncombe County residents called 2-1-1, their free 24 hour service line, seeking housing, more than 1,500 sought free and affordable food and over 2,500 calls were received related to healthcare assistance.

🎁Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP) | Any level of donation to WNCAP will help contribute to educating the community about AIDS/HIV, prevent new infections + help support those who are living with the disease.

While you’re in the giving spirit, here are some tips on giving from Central Carolina Community Foundation:

💸Plan ahead | Budget how much money you’d like to give. Any amount can make a difference.

💸Do your research | Donate to a cause you care about by utilizing the search tools listed above.

💸Keep good records | If you’re deducting your donations, the IRS requires a tax-deductible receipt for gifts over $250 issued by the organization. A canceled check or credit card receipt is sufficient for donations below $250.

💸Think outside the box | There are more ways to give other than just donating. Consider bequests, gifts-in-kind, securities, trusts or pledging to volunteer.

💸Give local | There’s no better way to spread the Columbia love than by gifting your time + money back into the community.

Not sure where to put your dollar? I’ll admit it’s hard to decide when Asheville has so many passionate organizations giving back to our community and today is a great reminder of the rich non-profit scene Asheville has. Today, I'm honored to be able to support some of my favorite organizations (where my dollar goes further). 💸

Let us know who you plan to support today comments below here.

–Audra