Giving Tuesday kicks off the holiday giving season.
Millions of people spent their money during the Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, but Tuesday’s focus is all about reaching out to support your community.
The international movement started not too long ago. Salvation Army Major Steven Merritt said it's more than just money people can give their time.
"It's a wonderful way that you can be a part of the community,” he said.
There are more than one million charities out there and they can always use the extra man power.
"We all have co-workers, people that live across the street, our neighbors, people that are in need today that may not of been in need yesterday,” Merritt said.
But if you do plan to donate, the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin said there are a few things that you should look out for before giving.
TODAY'S TMJ4 sat down with Jim Temmer the president of the Wisconsin BBB, and he said there are a lot of frauds out there.
"This time of year Americans are very generous people and this is a good time people want to give to charity. First of all you want to make sure you know who you're giving to, there are a lot of copy cats, names that will sound familiar to a charity you want to give too but they are scams. Never feel pressured to make a donation or contribution, if it's a legitimate charity they'll take your money tomorrow, they'll take it next week. They don't need it today," Temmer said.
If you are looking to donate to a legitimate charity, you can visit http://give.org/.
