That's nice to hear. I think that time frame is better. Here, I suspect they're trying to use the effect of Thanksgiving/Christmas to goad people into thinking more of charity. This time of year, though, people are also spending on gifts for their own families. I suspect it's hard to get people to think "outward" to the larger community rather than "inward" to their nearest people when it comes to gifts. Still, though, the results are impressive.

Here, they also include an additional lottery of sorts. Each 15 minutes, one charity that received a donation will also win a $500 price, each hour there's a prize for $1000, and the whole day provides a prize of $10,000. That's a nice, small way to encourage charities to get the word out for this one-day special event. (Donations are accepted through the GiveMN site throughout the year.)

Altogether, it seems like a win-win for everybody concerned.