Contribute to a cause close to your heart this November by participating in GivingTuesday with the Cumberland Community Foundation, an organization that connects donors with numerous programs and nonprofits throughout Cumberland County.
CCF describes their mission as “giving together to enhance the quality and spirit of community life.” Through donor contributions, they pour funding into causes that address the most pressing challenges and needs across Cumberland County. Just a few of the categories that CCF supports include education, human services, the arts and the environment.
The global GivingTuesday movement began in 2012 through the efforts of CEO Henry Timms of the 92nd Street Y — a community center in New York City — and the United Nations Foundation. Its core concept is radical generosity: making generosity an everyday part of our lives and extending empathy and aid to others to better their lives. This day is celebrated annually on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
CCF began their own GivingTuesday program in 2020 after recognizing there was a need for general operational support for local nonprofits. This unrestricted support allows nonprofits to put the funds toward the best areas they see fit that will help them in achieving their mission.
“The community foundation noticed that our local nonprofits were not running fundraising campaigns on the global day of giving, which is GivingTuesday,” said Maddie Kellogg, Director of Donor Services. “Now this year in 2026, we’re running our seventh annual GivingTuesday campaign, and it’s been a huge success; the community has really embraced the idea.”
CCF opens up to GivingTuesday donations from Monday, Nov. 23 at 9 a.m. to Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. Contributions for GivingTuesday that are made before Nov. 23 will be held and processed once the campaign officially begins.
This year, 89 local organizations are participating in GivingTuesday. Anyone who wants to support can access CCF’s specially curated 2026 Guide to Giving at https://issuu.com/cvnc/docs/2026_2027_guide_to_giving?fr=xKAE9_zMzMw.
This handbook gives a detailed rundown of every organization’s purpose and mission so that donors can support the causes that matter most to them. It’s also an excellent way to discover nonprofits you may not have been previously aware of.
“I think we just wanted to showcase our awesome nonprofit community and show people the great work that’s being done,” Kellogg said of the handbook. “We have all ranges of nonprofits represented in the Guide to Giving, really hitting on every category.”
Donations can be made through credit card, check, donor-advised grant, stocks or qualified charitable distributions from an Individual Retirement Account . Checks can be dropped off at the CCF building on 308 Green Street or mailed to P.O. Box 2345, Fayetteville, NC 28302.
Get more details on ways to give at https://www.cumberlandcf.org/programs/giving-tuesday/.
Those who want to go the extra mile can also act as ambassadors by encouraging family, friends and co-workers to give to their favorite organizations, as well as reaching out to their chosen entities to volunteer directly with them. Through CCF’s educational training sessions, nonprofits gain valuable tools and learn best practices for fundraising and sharing their impact with donors to nurture and strengthen these connections. CCF also processes all gifts received to take that administrative work off of nonprofits’ plates and leave more time for them to focus on their missions.
“It’s just a really happy campaign that has inspired people to give to local nonprofits that improve the quality of life in Cumberland County in every way,” Kellogg said.
CCF’s participation in GivingTuesday brings their year-round charitable efforts even further through a match that currently sits at $550,000, which is made possible by both individual donors and companies. Matching funds for 2026 come from the following sources:
• Unrestricted endowment funds of CCF
• Three anonymous donors
• Elizabeth “Beth” Keeney
• Linda and Ralph Huff
• Daphne and Ray Manning
• Bunny and WC Powers
• Holmes Security Systems
• Gail and Glenn Riddle
• Carol and Sammy Short
• Fayetteville New Car Dealers Association
“A good handful of our matching donors have been matchers for several years,” Kellogg said. The Shorts, the Mannings and Ms. Keeney have all been matching funds since the beginning of CCF’s campaign.
Last year, CCF raised over $4 million and processed 4,417 gifts over the 9-day campaign. Some of the organizations this money benefited include the Rockfish Camp and Retreat Center, the Rick Herrema Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank and the Moore Street Foundation.
“We’ve given to — through GivingTuesday — lots of different organizations. The Tarheel Quilters Guild is a small, volunteer-run nonprofit that really just needs to raise money for batting for their quilts so that they can donate baby quilts to babies in the NICU at Cape Fear Valley Hospital,” Kellogg said. “They’re making a great impact.”
In the past, these GivingTuesday gifts have also allowed the Cumberland County Council On Older Adults to secure an additional truck for Meals on Wheels, providing older adults in the community with nutritious meals.
The season of giving marks the perfect time to support the organizations that make Cumberland County a great place to live and work, but gifts don’t need to be limited to this campaign. CCF holds over 670 endowment funds that people can donate to in various ways, including through checks, stocks, wire transfers, real estate gifts and marketable securities. Outside of GivingTuesday, people are more than welcome to donate to their preferred endowment any time of the year.
“We can all be leaders in our own circle by giving and then encouraging others to give back as well,” Kellogg said.

(Photo: Bowman Smith was the first donor to stop by Cumberland Community Foundation on November 23, 2025 and drop off his GivingTuesday donations. Photo courtesy of CCF)