On Tuesday (8/2), over 230 Erie area nonprofits get to flex the power of their donor networks on the first ever Erie Gives Day.

This special day is sponsored by the Erie Community Foundation who is putting up $75,000, and GE Transportation is adding another $25,000 to do a partial and proportional match to what an area NPO raises in 12 hours Tuesday:

Erie Gives, which will take place on Tuesday, August 2nd from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., is an opportunity for you to make ONLINE gifts to your favorite nonprofits. In turn, The Erie Community Foundation will match a percentage of each donation that you make…The more donations made to a nonprofit, the more matching funds that nonprofit will receive from The Erie Community Foundation.

The minimum gift is $25, which is a perfect starting point for someone, especially a young person, to give to charity. This isn’t lost on the charities both big and small, who are engaging their networks through traditional advertising, mass mailings, e-mail blasts and Twitter and Facebook, to push for gifts. The Non-Profit Partnership even gave it’s members tutorials on how to launch a Facebook page or to get going with Twitter.

There are big hopes for this unique community-wide fundraiser. If the non-profits together can raise $100,000, they will receive a dollar for dollar match, and that will make a huge impact.

You can watch how things are going all day long live by following @eriegives on Twitter. And if you make a donation, tell your friends about it on your Facebook and Twitter page as an encouragement for others to get involved.