Colorado’s largest single day of giving has become a welcome tradition for nonprofit organizations.

From domestic violence centers to youth baseball teams, foster childrens’ programs, hospice centers, small-town orchestras and penguin conservation, Coloradans may choose from thousands of charities Tuesday for Colorado Gives Day.

This year, Colorado Gives Day will have an incentive fund, worth more than $1 million, provided by the Colorado Gives Foundation, FirstBank and other community members.

The fund is proportionally allocated to each nonprofit that receives donations. If a nonprofit receives 1/10 of the total giving on Colorado Gives Day, it would get 1/10 of the incentive fund, meaning every nonprofit that receives a gift on Colorado Gives Day gets an added boost.

Each non-profit’s incentive can be different.

For instance, for every dollar the Food Bank of the Rockies receives from donations, United Airlines will match them up to $50,000.

The 45-year-old organization — which distributes food to 360,000 people annually — was hit hard by inflation in 2023, especially through its network of more than 800 Hunger Relief Partners and mobile pantry sites throughout Colorado and Wyoming.

“Mobile pantry food distributions are seeing an increase of 40-60% of individuals attending right now. The last thing we want to do is say we don’t have enough food,” said Food Bank of the Rockies Chief Marketing Officer Aditi Desai. She said, for example, that potatoes cost a third more this year than they did last year.

Food Bank of the Rockies serves a range of people from the elderly who can’t make ends meet to families suffering from unexpected loss, like an Englewood mother and children whose condo burned down in a fire.

“They had never had to visit a food bank before,” Desai said. 

Other organizations registered with the Colorado Gives website coloradogives.org include mental health and health care nonprofits, animal-related charities, civil rights and advocacy groups, and those that supply housing and shelter to Coloradans in need. 

Colorado Gives Day has raised more than $415 million since it launched in 2010, including more than $70 million in 2022.