ATLANTA — Karen Beavor is quick to note “you live your life in nonprofits.”
She should know. As the president and CEO of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, Beavor’s mission is to help nonprofits succeed, and Georgians will have the chance to play a role next week during Georgia Gives Day.
“How many of y’all have driven down a road and seen those dotted lines in the middle of the road? Those were invented by a nonprofit,” Beavor told the Buckhead Business Association (BBA) Thursday during its weekly breakfast speaker series.
“You can literally be born in a nonprofit, you can die in a nonprofit hospice and everything in the middle of your life throughout it has been probably touched in some way, either directly or mysteriously behind the scenes,” by a nonprofit, Beavor said. “So, you live your life in nonprofits very transparently, and you don’t know it.”
On Nov. 13, Georgians have the opportunity to support nonprofits as part of the third annual Georgia Gives Day. On the first two iterations of the day, which aims to help nonprofits widen their circles of donors, Georgians gave $2.6 million to nonprofits throughout the state.
“It’s a flashmob of giving on one day,” Beavor told the more than 50 business professionals gathered for the BBA breakfast at the City Club of Buckhead. “The whole objective is how much money can we raise in one day.”
Last year, 11 percent of the 13,000 donors who participated in Georgia Gives Day had not previously donated to a nonprofit. In addition, 19 percent of donors last year aimed to give to a single nonprofit, but ended up giving to more than one organization.
While the average donation last year was $125, anyone interested in participating can give as little as $10. And, 100 percent of the money donated on Georgia Gives Day goes to the nonprofit organization.
“It’s like buying a book on Amazon,” Beavor said of the day. “Very fast, very secure.”
For more information on Georgia Gives Day, visit www.gagivesday.org, facebook.com/GaGives or twitter.com/gagives. On social media, donors are encouraged to use the #GAgivesday hashtag.