KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — How far can one dollar go? Most non-profit organizations will say they are skilled at making every single dollar count and they were counting on people in East Tennessee to give back to the community over Giving Tuesday.
Giving Tuesday started in 2012, as a way to encourage people to donate during the holiday season. It's the time of year when many people are in need and many organizations need the resources to help them.
This year, The Big Give Knox served as a hub for all nonprofits in East Tennessee to compete in a friendly competition for donations. The website shows a leaderboard of organizations with the most donations and donors, and even offers incentives for agencies that get the most donations in a given time period.
As of Tuesday night, the website showed the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont winning the competition.
Erin Rosalina with the Tremont Institute said it's a huge honor.
"It's wild. And it's super humbling. The last time I looked at it, we were $10,000 over our goal, which was already ambitious at $50,000," Rosalina said.
Other organizations that topped the list included Habitat for Humanity, Susannah's House, Random Acts of Flowers - Knoxville, and the Knoxville Family Justice Center (FJC).
Kathryn Ellis, the director for the FJC said it was the most money the domestic violence resource has ever raised on Giving Tuesday.
"I think the most we've ever gotten was $9,000. And right now we're over $14,000," Ellis said.
She said the donations don't need to be big to make a big impact.
"$5 from people all day long adds up and by the end of the day, the total shows how much the community cares," Ellis said.
Ellis said that money will go toward tangible resources for domestic violence survivors who take refuge at their center every day.
"Donations make it so that we can actually give victims who come in a cell phone with a prepaid minute card, or give them a grocery card or give them a stroller for their child," Ellis said.
The Tremont Institute said the money they make from Giving Tuesday will go back into education about the Great Smoky Mountains.
"These funds help keep our mission going. Our mission is to connect people with nature. And this helps us as an organization stay open," Rosalina said.
She said she believes the key to their fundraising success was sharing their excitement about their mission with the public.
"We've been doing live streams all day long. We had some of our staff members jump in the river, and we are doing a campfire tonight," Rosaline said.
However, some prominent Knoxville-based organizations did not go through the Big Give Knox site.
Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) spent Giving Tuesday hosting their own campaign through Facebook.
Deborah Spencer with Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries said their $30,000 Giving Tuesday goal was aimed at helping the largest growing population of homeless people — women.
"Many women lack access to even the most basic medical care," Spencer said.
The campaign will allow them to access a care center to address those needs, as well as plug them in with counseling and trauma services. The United Way of Knoxville said Giving Tuesday is a pivotal time of year for non-profits.
"Giving Tuesday can make up as much as 10%, if not more, for some of these organizations. And for some of these smaller organizations, it can be really the biggest day of the year for them," said Matt Ryerson, the president and CEO of United Way.
He said the way the Big Give Knox site is set up, 100% of the donations go to the organizations.
"There is no administrative fee, it will go directly to their work," Ryerson said.
If you want to give, it's not too late. Visit the Big Give Knox website.