Give!Guide is Portland metro's easiest path to end-of-year giving. The campaign begins on November 1 and closes at midnight December 31.

It's Willamette Week’s annual effort to raise funds for — and draw attention to — the good works of local nonprofits. G!G has raised more than $73 million for hundreds of local nonprofits since its inception in 2004.

Last year’s campaign raised $8,870,380 for 250 local nonprofits from 16,336 donors. The grassroots campaign is supported by numerous local businesses, provides healthy incentives to donors, and emphasizes giving by younger folks to build a culture of engagement.

G!G showcases locally headquartered nonprofits that are verified in good standing with the IRS and State of Oregon. Their missions range across ten categories:

1. Animals
2. Civil & Human Rights
3. Community
4. Creative Expression
5. Education
6. Environment
7. Health
8. Home
9. Human Services
10. Hunger

The mission of Willamette Week's Give!Guide is to raise funds for — and draw attention to — the good works of local nonprofits. At the heart of this effort is a focus on younger donors (age 35 and under) in giving back to the community and building a culture of active citizenship. Today, readers 35 and under provide 31% of the donations.

Big Give Days are a fun way to help nonprofits reach their fundraising goals. If you donate to a nonprofit on a BGD, you'll get entered to win an exciting prize from our community partners.

View this year's BGDs and prizes here.

Creating an account makes it easy to for you to track previous donations, find old receipts, and add nonprofits to your favorites list.

It's 100% optional. You're always welcome to checkout as a guest.

Of course we do! 👉 Subscribe here and stay connected with Give!Guide.

Our team is here to help! You can contact us via email [email protected]. We’re happy to assist with any questions or issues.

Because giving is a habit, and habits start early. Whether you’re 12 or 28, a first $10 or $20 gift is how it begins, and those gifts tend to grow right along with your paycheck. We want the next generation of Portlanders to see investing in this community as just something you do.

Give!Guide makes that first step easy. Browse the nonprofits, find the ones working on things you care about, and give what you can. 

Young professionals use it to figure out where they want their dollars to go. Lots of families use it to hand the decision to the kids, who explore the nonprofits, pick a cause, and make the gift themselves. Either way, you come away knowing your values a little better and your city a lot better.

WW's Skidmore Prize recognizes four young nonprofit professionals (35 and under) who are shaping our collective community through their work and long-term dedication to nonprofits that serve causes critical to the growth and vitality of our community.

The prize is intended to reward humble excellence, to encourage recipients to continue working in the nonprofit world and to inspire younger generations to go from “potential” to the real deal in terms of taking action and modeling what it means to be an active participant in the community we all have a stake in.

Winners must be under the age of 36 and work full-time for a local nonprofit. The Skidmore Prize winners are celebrated, given an award of $4,000 each, and an embarrassing amount of publicity. View this year's winners on the Skidmore Prize page.

Yes!

All participating organizations have 501(c)3 status or are fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3 and are verified to be in good standing with the IRS, Oregon Secretary of State, and Department of Justice. 

👉 Give!Guide sends everyone a transaction receipt immediately after you make a donation. 

👉 Tax receipts will come directly from the nonprofit shortly after you donate (they've all been instructed to get it to you within two weeks of your donation). You can find the nonprofit's federal tax ID numbers listed on their profiles.

You may be able to claim a tax deduction for your charitable contribution for the full amount of the gift. Please check with your tax professional.

The minimum donation is $10 per nonprofit. This makes it accessible for everyone to participate, no matter their budget.

Yes!

👉 We have a form for this! Simply print it out and mail it in with your payment.

Offline donation forms and checks must be received by December 31 before our vault closes.

• Make payable to: "Willamette Week's Give!Guide" (Anything else and the bank will refuse the payment!)
• Mail to: PO Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296
• Must: Include a list of your nonprofit selections and donation amounts.

This works for personal or business checks, as well as any distributions from a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), or IRA fund. It can take 7+ days for DAF requests to be issued, please make your request early in order to beat the 12/31 deadline.
 

Questions? Email [email protected].

Sure thing!

We make giving through a Required Minimum Distribution from an IRA or a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) easy. Start with our offline giving form. Simply print it out and mail it along with your payment. (If your payment is being sent separately, please give us a heads up so we can match the check to your offline giving form.)

Give!Guide is the authorized fiduciary for all participating organizations. Each org has 501(c)3 status or is fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3) and is verified to be in good standing with the IRS, Oregon Secretary of State, and Department of Justice. Tax receipts will come directly from the nonprofit(s) shortly after you donate. Find the nonprofit's federal tax ID numbers listed on their profiles.

⚠️ Offline donation forms and checks must be received by December 31 before our vault closes. It can take several days for DAF requests to be issued, be sure to make your request early!

• Make payable to: "Willamette Week's Give!Guide" (Anything else and the bank will refuse the payment!)
• Mail to: PO Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296
• Must: Include a list of your nonprofit selections and donation amounts.

Questions? Email [email protected]. Does your financial advisor have questions? Send them our direction.

All of the money you donate to a nonprofit through Give!Guide goes directly to that nonprofit, minus a 4.25% interchange fee to help cover credit card transaction fees. Donors now have the option to cover this fee during the checkout process.

Donations made by check do not have an interchange fee, 100% goes to the nonprofit.

Give!Guide covers any additional fees and site security costs above that amount.

Please note: Research shows nonprofit donation portals have interchange fees ranging between 4-9%. Our rate is at the bottom of the range.

Yes! It's easy to make a gift in honor of someone special. There's a place to let the nonprofit know during the checkout process. Plus you can send a note through the system (look for prompts after your donation is complete) or download one of our honorary notecards.

Yes!

Matching gifts are a power move — we encourage everyone to utilize every opportunity to make your gift even more impactful. Your company might offer them. Ask HR and make sure to follow their instructions.

👉 Look for matching gifts in nonprofit's profiles!

In mid-January, by check. After the campaign closes, an outside accounting firm reconciles every single penny, and nonprofits get paid once the books are clean. It takes a little patience, but it means every gift lands where you meant it to.

Give!Guide's nonprofits are chosen by a community-comprised selection committee each year. To be considered the organization must:

• have 501(c)3 status or be fiscally sponsored;
• be based in Multnomah, Clackamas, or Washington counties;
• do work that impacts the Portland metro area;
• and be in good standing with regulatory bodies and Give!Guide.

Interested nonprofits should visit giveguide.org on April 1 for the application materials. 👉 Psst, nonprofits! Subscribe here and get the application sent directly to your inbox!

These are nonprofits that weren't in Give!Guide last year. It takes some time to gain traction through G!G, so we hope you give these organizations extra consideration.

Nonprofits with 50%+ of their organizational leadership self-identified as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) can add "BIPOC Leadership" to their Give!Guide profile. Leadership is defined as, “the people who have the decision making power in the org who can impact strategic direction.”

An "OCT Qualified" nonprofit means they're a partner in the Oregon Cultural Trust. Together, Oregonians and the Oregon Cultural Trust fund 1600+ nonprofits in Oregon in the areas of arts, heritage, and humanities. Find them here!

When you donate to an "OCT Qualified" nonprofit, you'll be invited to make a matching gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust during the checkout process.

A nonprofit's size is determined by their budget according to their most recent IRS 990 Form. This table showcases the different tiers.