Why is every charity I've ever heard of "coincidentally" emailing today asking for money when I'm still savoring a few last turkey/cranberry/mayo sandwiches? If you don’t like mayo on turkey with cranberry sauce, kindly excuse yourself into the other room please—we have no time for that kind of intolerance in this household...

Back in 2012, a few entrepreneurial folks at the 92nd Street Y (a community and cultural center in New York) observed and lamented that popular shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday were heavily focused on materialism, which was rapidly fueling the less desirable aspects of our culture that were becoming obsessed with taking selfies and less concerned with helping others.

The idea was that kicking off the festive holiday season with a single (and properly branded) day entitled Giving Tuesday would awaken our better angels amidst the hubbub of the end of the year.

As an aside, for those of you (like me) who proudly identify as Boomers regardless of our true age and respective generation and don't regularly use social media, the pound sign is known as a hashtag. Hashtags help to organize broader topics into pithy categories.

However, I like to occasionally drop them into ordinary conversations as well. So recently when an unnamed someone was not stepping up to finish the necessary chores to prepare for Thanksgiving, I simply said, "I relish when the house is totally clean, well lit, and full of music HASHTAG please help me get these things done immediately."

The good news is that we have become a more generous society writ large. Did I mention that giving generously also feels really good?

In fact, a NY Times op-ed (I know, I know, that's not everyone's favorite news source these days.... but the author had a fair point about why giving is actually the nicest thing we can do for ourselves) cited research finding that when study participants were told to think about giving money to charity, the parts of the brain associated with eating warm apple pie and having sex* were engaged. Whoa, dang, what?! So I guess you could say financially sacrificing for a worthwhile cause is both delicious and exciting.

Who doesn't want to activate those nice endorphins? Let's just say today is as good an opportunity as any, and Buckeye is available and willing to accept said charitable contributions.

Major studies have proven that the happiness disparity between givers and non-givers is not due to differences in personal characteristics. Imagine two people who are identical in terms of income, faith, age, education, politics, gender, and family circumstances, but one is a regular and dedicated donor and the other isn't. The giver will be, on average, 11 percentage points more likely to say he or she is fulfilled.

Where can you sign up for these intangible benefits?

Golly, I am so glad you asked.

As luck would have it, The Buckeye Institute is a lean mean public policy operation that spends its resources wisely and effectively to advance the cause of freedom and prosperity. We are fiscal conservatives after all.

And we simply (and literally) would not exist without your investment and partnership.

The Buckeye Institute is a registered public charity, which is participating in the centrally-planned #GivingTuesday event in order to advance our noble cause.

As you hopefully already know, The Buckeye Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, and tax-exempt organization, as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. As such, we rely upon generous financial contributions from those who share our commitment to individual liberty, free enterprise, personal responsibility, and limited government.

The Buckeye Institute does not seek or accept government funding. In fact, we try to get the government out of charities, out of our lives, families, and businesses.
#KindlyKeepYourBigGovernmentOutOfTheWayThankYou

Your gift is tax deductible, and means more to us than warm apple pie or sex any time of year. Well, on second thought, that might be hyperbole. Let's not underestimate how much we love pie.

Please consider sending in a contribution today or at least before the end of the year, not least of which so that--over time--your giving blesses you with happiness.

Thank you. We are humbled and grateful to have earned your trust and work day in and day out to keep it.

We love you all so much, and hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving!

*Who had those wonky intellectual policy nerds, economists, and lawyers at The Buckeye Institute mentioning actual sex on their Bingo cards today? If so, congratulations!