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TRAVERSE CITY — Downtown shoppers raised more than $20,000 for local nonprofit organizations as part of Shop Your Community Day sponsored by the Downtown Traverse City Association.

For 20 years, Shop Your Community Day has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities and nonprofits as participating downtown businesses donate 15 percent of their customers’ purchases to the nonprofit or charitable organizations of the patrons’ choice.

This year, 38 downtown retailers took part in the Nov. 11 promotion as shoppers could choose from 40 area organizations to make their contributions, city Downtown Development Authority CEO Jean Derenzy said.

“It’s one of our favorite days of the year,” she said.

Donations are broken into six separate nonprofit categories. This year, animal welfare and health-related charities each raised more than $5,000. Derenzy said that follows historical giving patterns as the Cherryland Humane Society is traditionally among the leading recipients of Shop Your Community Day donations. Humanity-related organizations received almost $4,000, followed by environmental stewardship groups ($2,700), education ($2,000), and arts and culture organizations ($1,600).

Derenzy said the event continues to sustain local support after two decades as both the participating downtown business — which includes retail shops, plus downtown restaurants that donate a portion of gift certificate sales — promote the event, which is also publicized by the participating charities that urge their supporters and employees to take part as well.

“Everyone works really hard to help promote it,” Derenzy said. “It’s a great partnership between our retailers and our nonprofits.”

Events like Shop Your Community Day and today’s Small Business Saturday going on across the country help underscore the impact that small businesses and independent retailers make in their communities, she said.

“It’s really about giving back to the community and for our small business owners to give back 15 percent (of sale proceeds), that’s really substantial,” Derenzy said.

The Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network, which includes more than 150 organizations and 1,500 artists across the region, was among the nonprofits taking part this year. Executive Director Mary Bevans Gillett said fundraising is a critical part of their mission and events like Shop Your Community Day are important to raise both awareness and resources for local arts and culture programs, events and initiatives.

“Funding for the arts is always a challenge,” Gillett said. “We certainly look for any opportunity to partner with other organizations, including the DTCA … we work very hard to raise funds, raise awareness and raise engagement. Every dollar goes a long way and we greatly appreciate it.”

Derenzy said the total receipts from Shop Your Community Day were down a bit from last year’s total of around $24,000. She said that could be related to the mild fall weather this month, as the event seems to do better with wintry weather that puts visitors in the holiday shopping mood.

But participation has rebounded in the post-COVID era and downtown officials said the event continues to be popular with shoppers and retailers alike.

“It goes up, it goes down — it always hard to know … it seems to be gaining back the traction it had (pre-COVID),” she said. “I was down here and I thought it was very busy.”

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