Give to the Max Day

Thank you for your interest in giving to the max to support Our Saviour’s Community Services!

Over the past several years, community members like you have given generously during Give to the Max season. We are excited that our work brings together a community of supporters who see value in every life, who understand housing and education are human rights, and who take action to create a more equitable Minnesota.  

This year, we are aiming to raise $50,000 to support our programs. During this season of generosity, we hope you will consider making a Give to the Max gift to support OSCS, the English Learning Center, and Our Saviour’s Housing! 

To help advance our goal, our community matching pool is matching at least $20,000 of Give to the Max Day gifts to OSCS! 

Make a Give to the Max Gift Today!

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Give to the Max Day. If we haven’t answered your question here, please email us! 

How can I donate online for Give to the Max Day?

The simplest way to make an online Give to the Max Day gift to support OSCS is to give on our page on the GiveMN website. On that page, you can donate via credit card, PayPal, Venmo, Google Pay, or bank account with a gift of $100 or more. If you scroll down on this blog post, you’ll also find an embedded giving form that ties into the GiveMN system. If you use the form on this page or on our page on the GiveMN site, your gift is automatically eligible for all of the things: You’ll immediately see our giving total grow by your gift plus the matched dollars you pull in, your gift will be eligible for Golden Tickets from GiveMN, and you’ll receive your tax receipt from GiveMN. 

What is early giving?

Give to the Max Day is on November 20, 2025. That’s the biggest day of giving, and the unofficial giving holiday. To help make giving easy and accessible to more people (and take a little pressure off of that day), “early giving” officially opens November 1 on the GiveMN site. That means beginning November 1, you can make a gift to support our goal. That gift will be eligible for Early Giving Golden Tickets, and will be matched by the OSCS community match. An early gift can be an awesome way to help an organization you care about get off to a strong start. People give where they see momentum! Making an early gift also means you don’t need to remember to give on a specific day. Instead of putting November 20 on your calendar, you can give anytime you think of us. 

Do I have to give through the GiveMN website to count towards your goal, and your match?

Not at all! While only gifts made on the givemn.org platform are eligible for “Golden Tickets” (see below for more information), any gift made to OSCS that’s received between November 1 and November 20 can count towards our matching funds and our goal, as long as we can tell your gift is for Give to the Max. That could look like writing “GTMD” in the memo line of a check and mailing it in (see below), writing “Give to the Max” in the comment box of our regular online donation form, calling (612-386-8430) or emailing us (donate@oscs-mn.org) to let us know that you have a gift on the way via a Donor Advised Fund, IRA, etc. that is intended to support the Give to the Max Day campaign. 

I want to mail you a check for Give to the Max Day. Where should I send it?

To ensure we know to count your gift towards our Give to the Max Day total and matching pool, please note “GTMD” or “Give to the Max” in the memo line. Then, here’s the address to use!

Our Saviour’s Community Services

Attn: Development Team

2315 Chicago Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55404

If you are mailing a check on or after November 20, 2025, please notify us at donate@oscs-mn.org or 612-386-8430 to make sure your gift counts for any remaining matching funds!

I’ve heard Give to the Max Day uses “Golden Tickets.” What are those?

Beginning November 1 through November 19, one gift made on the givemn.org site each day will be randomly selected to grow by $500. On “actual” Give to the Max Day (Nov. 20), that shifts to one gift growing by $500 every 15 minutes, and one gift growing by $1,000 every hour. Then, when everything is done, one gift will randomly grow by $10,000! You can read more about the specifics on the GiveMN website. We love Golden Tickets because they add a fun, exciting flair to this season, and also because the chances of winning a Golden ticket are independent of gift size. A $5 gift to support OSCS has the same chance of growing by $500 or $1,000 as a $50 gift, or a $1,000 gift. Every gift opens possibilities! 

If your gift isn’t given anonymously and it earns us a Golden Ticket, we’ll be notified and reach out to thank you! If you give anonymously through the site, that gift is totally anonymous to us, and we won’t know which donor’s gift was pulled. 

How does the community matching pool work for Give to the Max Day?

A group of OSCS supporters including current board members, past board members, community partners, and advocates has joined together to help OSCS reach our $50,000 goal.  

Starting 11/1, we will have $20,000 in matching funds ready to match your early gift to OSCS! These funds all operate as “dollar for dollar matches.” That means if you make any gift to OSCS between Nov. 1 and Nov. 20 designated for our Give to the Max campaign, it will be doubled until our matching pool funds are depleted. If you give $50 to OSCS, we’ll pull $50 from the matching pool and add $100 to our total. If you give $5 to OSCS, we’ll pull $5 from the matching pool and add $100 to our total. 

Where can I learn about the fee structure for Give to the Max Day gifts?

GiveMN has a handy guide here for you! When in doubt, giving through a check or bank account will always have lower fees than giving via credit card. If you want to give, we want you to give in the way that’s easiest for you!

I prefer not to give by credit card. Can you accept other forms of donations?

Absolutely. Gifts of $5 or more can be made on the GiveMN site via credit card, PayPal, Venmo, or Google Pay. If a single gift or your whole giving “cart” is above $100, you can also give directly from your bank account on the GiveMN site. If you give via a Donor Advised Fund, there’s actually a way to have that count towards Golden Tickets and the leaderboard, too! Here’s information from GiveMN on how that works:

“If you’d like to make a donor-advised fund (DAF) to make a gift, we encourage you to work with the nonprofit you’d like to support to make arrangements for the transfer of those funds. Then, if you’d like to log your gift as part of the Give to the Max totals this year, you may find that organization’s page on GiveMN.org and start the donation process as you would for a credit card transaction. Then, when you see “Payment Method”, select Donor Advised Fund and enter the information requested there. Please note, this does not actually transfer the funds you wish to donate, but it does allow that donation to be counted toward your favorite organizations’ goals, Leaderboard placements, and eligibility for Golden Tickets!”

OSCS can also accept other types of gifts including checks, gifts from Donor Advised Funds, retirement distributions, and other sources. We can accept gifts via credit card or bank account via our primary year-round donation page.

I would like to talk to someone on the phone about Give to the Max Day. Who can I call?

Please start with Arden Sasak, Communications and Fundraising Coordinator for OSCS. You can reach Arden at 612-386-8430.  Arden’s phone will forward to another staff person the evening of the 20th.

I’m ready to give! Can I give now?

Yes! If you’re ready to give, gifts through the form below or on our page on the GiveMN website will automatically “count” towards the match, our goal, and Golden Tickets. Thank you for giving!