Last year, more than 38,000 donors logged on to GiveMN.org and contributed more than $14 million to 3,434 Minnesota nonprofits, whose missions range from feeding the hungry, to protecting the environment, to promoting the arts.

This year’s Great Minnesota Give Together takes place on November 16 from midnight to midnight!! Every donation counts and supports an organization of your choice!

New in 2010, GiveMN will offer several incentives to encourage nonprofit and donor participation in Give to the Max Day, including:

• A $20,000 and $10,000 prize grant will be awarded to the top two nonprofits in the Twin Cities and the top two nonprofits in Greater Minnesota that attract the largest number of individual donors on Give to the Max Day.
• Throughout the 24-hour event, an individual donor will be randomly chosen every hour to have an additional $1,000 given to the charity that received the donor’s original donation.
• Donors will have the opportunity to double their dollars for hundreds of featured nonprofits that have secured matching funds for Give to the Max Day.

Running Related

• Twin Cities Running Club (TC Running) they are a “rival” USATF team but it is all fun and games.
• Team USA – MN is a post-collegiate training center and group for runners to be coached and supported while they strive to fulfill their athletic goals.
• Bolder Options is a great youth mentoring program that connects youth and mentors through running (and biking) activities.  I would highly recommend volunteering as a mentor with Bolder Options.
• MN Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contains 13 member colleges that support student athletes.
• YWCA provides a variety of services to pretty much every population. They focus primarily on racial justice and empowering women and girls. In Minneapolis they also operate 3 fitness facilities. We are a member of the YWCA.
• YMCA also provides a variety of services and operates a lot of fitness facilities around Minneapolis and the West Metro. Some of our friends work for the YMCA, though none of their facilities are conveniently located for us.
• ALARC Active Life and Running Club is another local running group that “promotes fitness and friends”.  They also sponsor the ALARC Wall at the 20 mile mark in the Twin Cities Marathon.
• She Runs She Runs provides a 10 week running program for girls aged 9-14 that guides them to complete a final 5k race.

Here are some organizations that we gave to last year and will give to again this year:

• Elpis Enterprises has been another great partner for my work in MN. Elpis or Hope provides teenagers the opportunity to gain work-related skills and leadership through screen printing and other businesses. My first encouter with Elpis was with their bird feeder program. We bought kits and Paul brought out one of his employees and they helped my kids build 20 bird feeders in 1 hour!
• Achieve Minneapolis is more or less a foundation that supports programs within the Minneapolis Public Schools. They provide grants for classrooms, teacher professional development, field trips, host career fairs, and much much more.
• CommonBond Communities provides affordable housing and supportive services in the Twin Cities. I put CommonBond under youth development because I volunteered with them during the summer of my Americorps*VISTA service. I served as a program assistant in a summer program that combined fun and learning during the afternoons for children residents of the Seward Towers. They provide many more services to their residents.
• World Relief helps refugees adjust to life in Minnesota and America. This is the umbrella organization for the English literacy site that Christy and I co-coordinate. They also provide job training, initial welcoming services, housing assistance and much more to refugees as they walk off the plane and into the sometimes harsh tundra of MN.
• Minnesota Public Radio is a great news source for both local and national issues. They also have a rocking music station that plays a lot of local bands.
• Second Harvest of the Heartland is a large food bank that is helping to end hunger in MN. It is affiliated with the national Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest Network) and does some great work here in the Twin Cities.

Give to the Max Day was created to increase giving to nonprofits across the state. All donations on Give to the Max Day will be made through GiveMN.org, a first-of-its-kind giving website that helps Minnesotans discover, support and engage with nonprofits. GiveMN also lets donors manage their charitable giving by recording online contributions and storing receipts.

Throw in a plug for your favorite MN non-profit in the comment section.