This week is a big one for Minnesota nonprofits with the annual Give to the Max Day on Thursday.

It will be the eighth year for the 24-hour online fundraiser, and it’s expected to once again raise thousands for nonprofits and schools across the state.

Available year round, GiveMN.org provides people a secure place to donate easily with a credit or debit card from any location, and for each donation given, people receive a tax receipt via email right away.

GiveMN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and an affiliate of Minnesota Philanthropy Partners.

It serves more than 10,000 nonprofit organizations and schools across the state, and more than 300,000 donors have used the website to date, giving more than $140 million.

In 2015, GiveMN raised $18 million in 24 hours.

Locally, organizations and projects including the United Way of Mower County are participating, along with many others from around the state. We encourage you to visit the site and familiarize yourself with the local organizations seeking donations and then consider giving. On a statewide level, there are organizations such as Workforce Development Inc. There is a search tool on the home page that allows you to search for your cause.

As in the past, participating organizations this year will will also be eligible for prizes.

Each hour on Give to the Max Day, one prize of $1,000 will be awarded through a random drawing of all donations given during the previous hour. In addition, two prizes of $10,000 each will be awarded — the first will be drawn randomly from all successfully-processed donations scheduled through GiveMN.org between noon Nov. 1 and 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. The second will be drawn from donations given Thursday.

Let’s support our local nonprofits and take part in this online fundraiser.

Who knows — maybe a local initiative will receive an extra prize to add to its donations.