Here we come a-GivingTuesday among the holiday season;

Here we come a-searching for ways to fulfill our vision.

Love and joy come to you, and to you your giving too . . .

Just a fun take-off on the Christmas carol, “Here We Come A-Wassailing” that seemed to fit this topic.

Anyway, I hope you’ve been promoting Giving Tuesday which is on November 27th!

As the GivingTuesday.org site states: Thanksgiving is a day for giving thanks. And there’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday (they forgot to mention Free Shipping Day) for getting deals.

And this year some folks have banded together to launch #GivingTuesday. They’ve dubbed it the “giving season’s opening day.”

The concept is to encourage more people – charities, families, businesses, associations, and anyone under the sun – to give in other ways during the holidays. And to also expand how we think about the season.

Perhaps the only down side is the timing. By that I mean that Giving Tuesday follows four days (Friday – Monday) of people spending money and shopping for deals. So gently remind them to set aside money for charitable gift giving BEFORE spending the budget on gifts for family and friends as well as treats for their self. Or remind them to donate their Black Friday and other savings to charity.

The Giving Tuesday website has many ideas on how to participate. Ideas for big business. Ideas for families. Ideas for local businesses.

So tweet about it with the hashtag #GivingTuesday.

Share what you’re doing on the official Facebook page, Facebook.com/GivingTuesday

Get your donors, volunteers, and advocates fired up and taking action with you on this unique day.

There’s also a most helpful blog post on the site that lists fifteen (15) charities taking part in this initiative and how easy it is to give on Tuesday to each of their causes.

When all is said and done there are multitudes of ways in which kind-hearted souls can give to charity on Giving Tuesday. What is your nonprofit doing? What are you as an individual doing?

Meanwhile, my best to you all . . . and Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans!

My viewpoint may not be too popular with some of my nonprofit friends and colleagues.  But for me it’s the bedrock of what our country was founded on – freedom.  Specifically freedom of choice.

An article on the National Public Radio website has the headline: Should bank execs donate part of their paychecks to charity?

The article then opens with, “Typically big profits for a Wall Street bank translate into large bonuses for the firm’s executives. But this year’s bonus season could be tempered by an unprecedented measure: mandatory philanthropy. Goldman Sachs is reportedly considering a plan to force employees to give part of their bonuses to charity.”

Setting the subject of taxes aside . . . Forcing people to spend the money they earned in a certain way is wrong – and for me it doesn’t matter how much they earned.  Taking away my choices and dictating how I spend my income is socialism.  It’s flat out wrong in my book and contrary to what the USA stands for.

And telling people it must go to charity does not make it right.  The end doesn’t justify the means.

I faced something like this early in my working career as an employee in the for-profit world.  And I assure you I wasn’t receiving a large bonus!  Far from it.  I was told I had to give a specified percentage of my gross income to a charity my employer chose.  I fought it then and I’ll continue to fight it.

Folks, you may not like that some people earn large salaries and bonuses.  But opportunities for success without the government or anyone else restricting them are often why so many people immigrate to the U.S.  They know how precious our freedoms are.  They know how incredible it is that you can be as successful as your creativity, dedication, and talents allow in the USA.

Don’t condemn success.  Instead reach out to these people.  Congratulate them and ask if they would kindly consider sharing some of their success through a donation to your charity.  It’s the American way.

Here’s an example of charities connecting with the right business to help their cause.  In this case, the business is Major League Baseball but the principles are the same.

Last night the Phillies lost the World Series to the Yankees.  But what you may not know is that they need to have all the apparel manufactured and ready to sell before the final results of the championship games are known.

This means that the Phillies and the Yankees both had apparel and merchandise ready for market.  But since the Phillies lost, what do they do with their stuff? Give it to charity.  This way the hats, shirts and so on don’t go to waste.

Specifically World Vision receives the gifts-in-kind.  World Vision is an international antipoverty group located in Federal Way, Washington.  According to World Vision the Phillies apparel is headed for children and families in Indonesia.  They were hit by an earthquake in September.

But that’s not all they’re getting.  The Los Angeles Angels and the Los Angeles Dodgers also sent apparel to World Vision when each team lost their league championship series.  An additional heart-warming fact is that the nonprofit says for some recipients, the baseball donations are the first new piece of clothing they have ever owned.

Now that’s a neat solution to unwanted stuff.  And it’s a good nonprofit-business partnership.

Marketing must grab people’s attention.  And it must also be relevant. I can’t begin to tell you how many ads from Madison Avenue I’ve seen that grab my attention.  However, they’re so bizarre or obscure I have no idea what they’re trying to tell me.  And I can’t see any connection whatsoever to the product.

That is NOT your objective.

But here is a fun example of an attention-getting idea that does relate to the nonprofit charity being promoted.  You’ll watch a fun video of a talented man building a house out of chocolate bars.  He’s doing this to “raise awareness about housing needs and encourage others to volunteer to build.”

Watch him build a house out of candy – http://bit.ly/2LpcVH

There are lots of great examples of how general aviation and business aviation support charities.  In fact, some nonprofits couldn’t survive without aviation.

Here’s one recent example of the giving nature of aviation.

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) held their annual convention this month.  One evening featured the Corporate Angel Network Charity Benefit.  $168,000 dollars were raised during the benefit.

The Corporate Angel Network is the only charitable organization in the United States whose sole mission is to “arrange free air transportation for cancer patients traveling to treatment using the empty seats” on business and corporate aircraft.

Business aircraft and the companies that own that aircraft are helping to save lives every day.  Now those are friendly skies.

Visit the Corporate Angel Network website to learn more this great example of a nonprofit partnering with business.