Early reports are that the holiday shopping season got off to a strong start: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday attracted tens of millions of shoppers and billions of retail dollars.

That’s good news for the local, state and national economies. But it’s perhaps even more important to deliver strong numbers today, which has become known as Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday came about in 2012, when several technology companies banded together to promote a day in which residents were urged, in the spirit of the holiday season, to give back by donating to or volunteering with charitable causes. The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving was selected as Giving Tuesday, partly in response to the consumer commercialism promoted by the various shopping holidays. The initial partners in the movement included Mashable, Skype, Cisco, Microsoft, Sony and others. Promotion on social media using #GivingTuesday was key to the event from the start.

The strategy has worked. The first event raised an estimated $10 million in online donations for charities. By year two, more organizations started participating and donations topped $28 million. Last year, more than $117 million was raised in online donations on #GivingTuesday.

Now, #GivingTuesday is nearly as important to nonprofit success as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are to retail success.

Nonprofit organizations are vital to the health and well-being of Lawrence. Numerous nonprofit groups are involved in providing food, clothing and shelter to those in need. Dozens more are committed to critical areas such as education, child care, mentoring, health care and hospice.

But Rick Palmer of Lawrence’s Ballard Center, which provides early-childhood education for infants to 5-year-olds, said fundraising has become challenging in the wake of the incident involving former Lawrence Mayor Jeremy Farmer. Farmer, the executive director of Just Food from 2011 until his resignation last year, recently pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing thousands of dollars from Just Food, a Lawrence nonprofit whose mission is to feed the hungry.

“I think the thing with former Mayor Farmer left the whole community with a bad taste toward nonprofits,” Palmer said. “I’ve been around a long time. I can just sense it.”

The incident surrounding Farmer, while unfortunate, shouldn’t stain the community’s nonprofits, including Just Food. Today marks an opportunity for the community to give back, to show nonprofit organizations that Lawrence needs and supports them.

One way residents can give today is by helping the Douglas County United Way, which is attempting to raise $3,000 for its community goals of education, health and financial stability. To donate today, simply text UNITED4DGCO to 41444.

Donate on #GivingTuesday. During the holiday season, it’s the right thing to do.