Two Warwick-based nonprofit organizations used the increasingly powerful #GivingTuesday this week to thank donors and volunteers for their time and money, instead of asking them for more donations.

Hendricken High School, meanwhile, took the more traditional route for the day and focused efforts on a goal of $75,000 to help fund academic scholarships, athletics, and student groups.

#GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 by the United Nations Foundation and New York’s 92nd street Y as an annual day of giving as a response to the commercialization of the post-Thanksgiving season. It is held every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

Donors of all kinds get involved with the day, with millions of individuals donating small amounts to charities online. On a larger scale, Facebook and The Gates Foundation matched $2 million in donations to nonprofits around the county on this year’s Tuesday, according to techcrunch.com. 

During the 2015 day alone, givingtuesday.org shows that $177 million was raised online.

In Warwick, House of Hope and Mentor Rhode Island, both of which have offices in Apponaug, didn’t try to raise funds to augment their budgets. Instead, they chose to use Facebook, e-mails, newsletters, and the good old-fashioned phone call to let their donors and volunteers how appreciative they were of them.

For Mentor Rhode Island, they took the phone call approach to speak with those they were thanking, or just leave them a friendly message, according to President and CEO Jo-Ann Schofield.

In total, Schofield said that her team of 10 collectively reached about 200 people, ranging from volunteer mentors to board members to donors who all help their organization in reaching children around the state.

She said that Rhode Island currently ranks 49th in the country for the amount of people that donate time and money to charities, and this alternative approach on #GivingTuesday was one of the ways they’re trying to get more people involved.

“It was amazing,” she said. “We all kind of got excited when people answered their phones. And for the people we left voicemails for, they sent back emails saying we made their day, which made our day.”

She said that Mentor RI has a “dedicated group trying to grow a community of passionate ambassadors,” and instead of asking their donors for more money this Tuesday they tried to show their appreciation for the passion they have seen from them.

House of Hope is also a nonprofit organization founded in Warwick. Their mission is to prevent and end homelessness in Rhode Island, according to Executive Director Laura Jaworski.

Jaworski said that they too chose not to solicit donations or do an active fundraiser on #GivingTuesday.

“Amongst our staff and directors, we took it as an opportunity to give thanks to people and give that as a gift back to our supporters,” she said.

The staff, including the board members, made a video that they shared on their Facebook page, in which their team of 30 told donors what they were thankful for. It was important for Jaworski that her staff had the chance to express their gratitude directly to the donors via the video as well as a subsequent newsletter that was sent out.

“For donors, when we’re not always staring at their wallet, it’s nice to just be thanked,” she said. “People have loved it so far. I think everyone always appreciates expressions of gratitude.”

Over on the other side of town Hendricken used the day of donations to raise more funds for scholarships and student activities.

They set a goal this year of $75,000, according to spokeswoman Cathy Solomon, and just squeezed past it at a grand total of $75,046 on the day, thanks to a number of donors, including a lead gift of $6,000 from the Hendricken board chair Tom Harkins and his wife.

The first time they participated in #GivingTuesday was in 2015, according to Solomon, when they raised $18,000 on the day. Last year they hit their $50,000 goal with a $55,000 total and this year became the most successful #GivingTuesday for the high school yet.

“People are more aware of #GivingTuesday as a global day of philanthropy,” she said. “The donations support everything from academics to arts to athletics. Donors can designate what they donate to, whether it be the baseball team or the drama program, if they so choose.”

The record number of dollars will help Hendricken spread the money around to many different parts of their school that need funding, including academics and student groups. Solomon made sure to express the school’s gratitude for the Hendricken community, especially locally.