Giving Tuesday: Canton Nonprofits That Could Use Your Help

CANTON, CT — There’s no single way to show generosity on Giving Tuesday, which falls on Tuesday, Dec. 2, this year, but several nonprofits in Canton are counting on end-of-the-year donations and support.

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday all focus on consumerism, while the idea behind GivingTuesday is to galvanize fundraising, rally volunteers, and add momentum to their causes.

Here are five nonprofits in the Canton area that depend on community support (donations should be made directly to each of the nonprofits below):

1. Dog Star Rescue, P.O. Box 721, Canton/Bloomfield, CT: Dog Star Rescue's mission is to save abandoned, shelter, or owner-surrender dogs to the best of our ability with the volunteer and financial resources available.

2. SpiritHorse Therapeutic Riding Center, 174 Morgan Road, Canton, CT: SpiritHorse Therapeutic Riding Center provides weekly therapeutic riding lessons for people of all ages with disabilities.

3. The Arc Of The Farmington Valley, Inc., 225 Commerce Drive, Canton: The mission of the Arc of the Farmington Valley, Inc. Is to help each person to achieve his or her personal best. We provide services and support for our clients so that they may live healthy, productive, and independent lives.

4. Focus Center For Autism Inc., 126 Dowd Ave.: Helping children, adolescents, and young adults with autism spectrum disorders reach their full potential by providing clinical programs, community education, and family support.

5. Town of Canton Social Services, 40 Dyer Ave.: Serves adults aged 60 years and older, adults with disabilities, families, and individuals 18 years and older needing financial and other kinds of assistance.

Since 2012, nonprofits, community and grassroots groups, and mutual aid networks worldwide have used the #GivingTuesday hashtag to encourage fundraising, rally volunteers and add momentum to their causes, according to the nonprofit of the same name behind the movement.

Local nonprofits remain heavily dependent on donor support. Charitable contributions increased 2.9 percent from June 2024 to June 2025, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Report analysis.

Notably, although total dollars raised have increased, year-to-date performance among supersize donors has been softer than in 2024, making small contributions more important than ever.

In the United States, Giving Tuesday is led by hundreds of communities, networks, and coalitions.

The Giving Tuesday movement encourages “radical generosity,” the concept that the suffering of others should be as intolerable to us as our own suffering, according to the movement’s website.

Giving Tuesday was created in New York City in 2012 with a simple goal: to encourage people to do good. Over the past nine years, the idea has grown into the global movement it is today.

Last year, Giving Tuesday participants raised a record-breaking $3.6 billion from 36.1 million participants, bringing the total raised on the day since 2012 to $18.5 billion.