According to Charity Navigator, a national nonprofit that “guides intelligent giving,” 12 percent of annual giving occurs on the last three days of the year. Given that fact, local nonprofits are scrambling to secure key funding from donors large and small. As the end of the year approaches, The Ticker wondered how 2015 giving is looking across the region, how it compares to previous years, and which causes are attracting gifts this year.

Groundwork, a Traverse City nonprofit focused on creating more resilient communities both economically and environmentally, sent out its annual year-end “ask” late last week. Executive Director Hans Voss says 35 percent of its total private donations come from the year-end annual appeal. It will be a few weeks before the final tally is in, but for Groundwork staff – and hundreds of other organizations around the region – this is crunch time.

Groundwork and other local nonprofits report 2015 is pointing in the right direction.

“From the Community Foundation perspective, my observations are it’s been a good year,” says Executive Director Phil Ellis. “There’s been a smoothing off of the trauma of ’08. The economy is better … we see that reflected not only on the commercial side of things but with philanthropy as well.”

The Traverse City-based Community Foundation supports nonprofits in the greater Grand Traverse region by working with donors to direct their gifts to where they will have the most impact. Ellis says the foundation will end the year at more than $2.5 million in grants, which he says is “on par” with the average. One trend he has noticed in giving patterns is gifts directed to basic needs – food, shelter and clothing.

“I think people are becoming increasingly cognizant with where the greatest needs are … particularly with legacy gifts,” says Ellis. “We call it passion with a purpose. More people really want to understand what an agency is about.”

Case in point: Child and Family Services of Northwest Michigan received more than $47,000 in the Community Foundation’s fall grant cycle to support several of its programs for youth and families, including youth homelessness and trauma recovery.

Arts, the environment and education are also high on many donors’ lists in the region, Ellis notes.

At the United Way of Northwest Michigan, Executive Director Ranae McCauley says it’s too soon to tell how 2015 giving will ultimately measure up to last year, but she's optimistic.

“We really count on our local donors to recognize our unity and purpose in giving,” says McCauley.

McCauley says more and more she's witnessing people giving gifts to United Way in someone's honor in lieu of a Christmas gift.

Looking ahead to 2016, McCauley says the goal is for every dollar that comes into the organization to be leveraged another three dollars. “That really makes those dollars go a long way,” says McCauley, in investing in the organizations the community chooses.