If you follow any profit organization, including museums, Audubon institutions, religious organizations, schools, parks, libraries, etc., you might have seen posts about GiveNOLA Day. GiveNOLA Day is a 24 hour event where nonprofit organizations ask for charitable donations to support their work. It is completely online and extremely successful; according to their website, last year, GiveNOLA raised nearly $4.9 million from 38,000+ donations across the nation!
This year, GiveNOLA Day takes place on May 1st. Although any day is a great day to be charitable and donate money to wonderful nonprofit organizations, if you donate on May 1st, you are not only participating in a region-wide fundraiser, there are awards and hourly prizes, in addition to lagniappe funds given to organizations. (Amount you raise ÷ Amount raised by ALL on May 1 = Your lagniappe fund percentage.) The nonprofits are divided into small and large categories, and for each of these categories, awards will be given to the five nonprofits that raise the most money AND the five nonprofits that raise the most unique donors. Two hourly prizes are awarded to any nonprofit organization that receives a donation of at least $10.
If you would like to donate, go to GiveNOLA on May 1st and search by either name, service area, or parish for the nonprofit organization to whom you would like donate. You can even browse all of the registered nonprofit organizations if you do not have a specific one in mind. your credit or debit card to donate to any nonprofit that has registered to participate. You can search for a nonprofit by name, service area, or parish. Donations begin at $10, payable by debit or credit card, and there is no limit to the maximum size or number of donations you would like to make. You may give to as many different nonprofit organizations as you would like! Your bank statement will read as “Greater New Orleans Foundation,” “GNOF,” or a similar abbreviation and is 100% tax deductible.
To help celebrate GiveNOLA Day, there will be the GiveNOLA Fest on May 1st from 5-8pm at The Circle: Center for Philanthropy, 919 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans. Entry is free and attendees will enjoy music from Soul Rebels and Irma Thomas. A portion of proceeds from food and drink will benefit the Lagniappe Fund, which is distributed proportionally to all participating nonprofits based on total amount raised. Attendees can also enter to win one of two sets of Southwest Airlines tickets!
If you would rather hang out with Saints punter Thomas Morstead, he will be celebrating GiveNOLA Day at Sal’s Sno-Balls in Metairie by handing out free snoballs to help raise money for What You Give Will Grow. What You Give Will Grow hopes to inspire action behind the idea that giving back makes a difference and to inspire others to give.
Here are some of our favorite nonprofit organizations to which you can donate. Remember, there are over 700 total, so find a cause you are interested in and be generous!
Al Copeland Foundation https://www.givenola.org/al-copeland-foundation
American Italian Renaissance Foundation https://www.givenola.org/american-italian-renaissance-foundation
Audubon Nature Institute https://www.givenola.org/AudubonNatureInstitute
Bayou Playhouse https://www.givenola.org/bayouplayhouse
Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans https://www.givenola.org/ccano
The Devon Walker Foundation https://www.givenola.org/TheDevonWalkerFoundation
Geeks Empowering Extraordinary Kids https://www.givenola.org/geeksforkids
The Green Project https://www.givenola.org/green-project
KATRINA NATIONAL MEMORIAL MUSEUM https://www.givenola.org/KNMFM
Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners https://www.givenola.org/louisiana-books2prisoners
The National WWII Museum https://www.givenola.org/wwiimuseum
NOMA https://www.givenola.org/noma
The Posse Foundation https://www.givenola.org/the-posse-foundation
STEM NOLA https://www.givenola.org/stem-nola
WYES-TV https://www.givenola.org/wyes
Youth Empowerment Project https://www.givenola.org/youth-empowerment-project
Zeus’ Rescues https://www.givenola.org/zeus-rescues
For a list of all of the nonprofit organizations, click here.
If you have any questions, please call 504.598.4663 to speak with a Greater New Orleans Foundation staff member or email givenola@gnof.org.

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