Charitable giving reached a record high in 2014 and is likely to do so again this year.
That's good, of course, but now there are more hands out, more ways to be scammed and more criticism of givers in general.
It makes one wonder if it's worth all the trouble.
It is.
Giving is not only biblical (a tithe - 10 percent - of earnings is often mentioned), but it often makes a difference in the lives of recipients and often results in the donor feeling even better than the recipient.
Americans - and Chattanoogans, specifically - are a generous people. And we should all want our charitable dollars to be used in the most expedient way possible.
Unfortunately, the fairly recent advent of online crowdfunding makes it easier to both spread the need for funding and defraud the giver.
Who could resist, after all, an adorable dog in Kankakee, Ill., who swallowed a sprinkler head and needed an operation or an Iraq war veteran in Allentown, Pa., who needed a prosthetic arm to hold his 1-year-old or a single mother of three in Provo, Utah, whose oldest child needed special glasses she is unable to afford.
Their stories are touching, and a few dollars might make a difference. But we'll never know for sure, unless we check, whether the stories are true, partially true or not true at all.
Yes, the Federal Trade Commission is supposed to be looking out for these things, but the scammer might be long gone with the money before the FTC gets on the case.
Millennials, according to experts, are more likely than older donors to give to crowdfunding requests because they have grown up communicating online, are more trusting of that form of communication and are less familiar with traditional funding outlets.
Indeed, online giving grew 13.5 percent - with faith-based nonprofits seeing the biggest increase - in 2013, while overall charitable giving grew by only 4.9 percent.
Older givers contribute more often to charities such as the United Way and, locally, to the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults because the agencies have a reputation for success and because donors trust their money will be spread across a variety of programs in which help is given.
Compared to the days when fewer charities got more donated dollars, though, the number of charities has exploded. Nonprofit organizations increased 24 percent - to 1.6 million - between 2000 and 2010, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics.
Chattanooga, for example, has at least three nonprofit organizations which use the sport of soccer to strengthen the community. We know because just yesterday, on Giving Tuesday, three of them came under the arms of the Chattanooga Football Club, which itself began under the wing of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga.
Now, the nonprofit CFC Foundation will be comprised of the Chattanooga Sports Ministries, which has as a goal "transforming communities of at-risk youth through athletic engagement, training in life skills, and the formation of intentional, Gospel-centered, cross-cultural mentoring relationships," Highland Park Commons, which is responsible for the promotion, reservations, fee collection and facilities maintenance supervision of several futsal courts in Highland Park, and Operation Get Active, which uses soccer to encourage youth to live active and healthy lifestyles.
The three organizations define today's niche giving atmosphere.
In some circles, though, no gift given goes unpunished as wealthy givers have been hearing it from the if-I-can't-have-it-then-it's-not-fair-for-you-to-have-it crowd.
Wealthy donors such as Bill Gates, media mogul David Geffen and hedge fund billionaire John Paulson have been criticized for their gifts of billions and hundreds of million dollars to various causes.
"I see the parallels here as not so much that people are critical of the gifts per se," Marian Stern, who teaches at New York University's Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, said in an Associated Press article, "but perhaps the power behind it - that the donors are dictating the conversation and also really influencing public policy."
For those of us whose charitable giving is not in the millions and billions range, some important questions when considering a gift are: Should your money go to an umbrella agency where a number of programs are assisted or to a stand-alone charity? Is the charity legitimate (registered by federal, state and/or local authorities)? Will it use your money effectively? Is the charity accountable?
After all, the dog who ate the sprinkler head may make a touching story, but there may be no dog and no sprinkler head. And the mission down the street which could have used the money will have to turn away a homeless veteran on a cold night because of a lack of resources.