WHAT IS IT? #Giving Tuesday is here and today officially kicks off the giving season! Hopefully you survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but this is a day dedicated to charities and for giving back.

WHAT FOR? Between now and December 31, 2014, Cottonwood Institute is committed to raising $20,000 to meet our annual giving goal. This critical funding will help set us up for success in 2015 and enable us to offer inspiring programs like this Flood Restoration Project with Colorado Youth For A Change, our Summer Nature Series with Casa de la Esperanza, the annual Local Lunch hosted by the Earth Task Force, and the Community Adventure Program!

WHY ME? Because you care about youth, education, and the environment, you had someone share the outdoors with you, and you are committed to helping Cottonwood Institute connect high need students to the outdoors and empower them to ignite change in their communities.

5 EASY WAYS TO GIVE: Here are 5 easy ways to give on #GivingTuesday to help us meet our annual goal:

1. DONATE ONLINE: Thanks to a generous grant from Salah Foundation, your donation will be matched up to $12,000 for our annual giving campaign until December 31st, 2014 or until our match is met! To help meet our goal, Click Here.

2. DONATE BY CHECK: If you prefer to mail in your donation, please make checks payable to Cottonwood Institute and send it to: PO Box 7067, Denver, CO 80207.

3. PAYPAL: If you prefer to donate via PayPal, Click Here and choose option 3.

4. DONATE FOR COLORADO GIVES DAY: You can schedule an online donation for Colorado Gives Day on December 9th, 2014 by Clicking Here.

5. DONATE STOCK: If you are interested in making a gift of stock to the Cottonwood Institute, please call me at 303.447.1076 and I’ll walk you through how to make an electronic transfer.

Finally, if you make a donation to Cottonwood Institute today, or if you have made a donation this year, and you want to go above and beyond “to help good go viral,” please take a picture of yourself with a sign saying you gave to Cottonwood Institute and post it in the comment of our GivingTuesday post on our Facebook Page with hash tags #GivingTuesday, #Unselfie, and #ChangeYourWorld

This will help spread the good word about Cottonwood Institute, #GivingTuesday, and making a difference today!

Thank you so much for your incredible support!

Ford Church, Founder and Executive Director, Cottonwood Institute