It’s never too late to celebrate Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday, which occurred this year on December 2, is a day that supports acts of giving, most notably donating money to charities of one’s interest. It follows Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Unlike those other days, Giving Tuesday encourages people to think outwardly in their giving.

While that specific date is when many nonprofit organizations make a push to raise funds for their cause (you probably received many emails that day), the spirit of Giving Tuesday is a year-round concept.

For those who love birds and nature (presumably everyone who reads this column), there are numerous options for your philanthropic dollars. These include international, national, regional, state and local organizations that support conservation, wildlife, birds and other similar causes.

I will focus most of this column on regional, state and local organizations, but I’ll spend a minute or two on the national groups. Some of the more well-known national bird organizations include Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, American Bird Conservancy, American Birding Association, and Ducks Unlimited. My personal favorite is Cornell.

If conservation is more your thing, groups such as the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) or Wildlife Conservation Society may be more appropriate.

When giving to large international or national organizations, I strongly encourage you to research the groups before offering your philanthropic support. Like almost everything these days, politics has become a major focus for many organizations and many of their projects may or may not align with your convictions.

Research is a good idea when considering state and local organizations as well, but these smaller groups are more likely to have a focused mission, offering a better idea of what your money is supporting.

The mission of local and regional land trusts is to preserve land and the natural character of their specific areas. As a former trustee of a local land trust, I know gifts made to these organizations go directly to preserving land.

There are far too many bird and nature organizations in the state for me to offer a summary of each one, but I’ll list a few of my favorites that come to mind. Feel free to do an internet search on any of these organizations or discover some for yourself.

Here are a few organizations to consider: Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, Loon Preservation Committee in Moultonborough, Hawk Migration Association, New Hampshire Audubon, Vermont Institute of Natural Science and Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. 

Also, many national organizations have state or local chapters that are worth checking out too. Trout Unlimited and National Wild Turkey Federation come to mind. Also, local bird clubs and wildlife rehabilitators are worth supporting as well.

I’m sure I’ve left out tons of great organizations. Send me an email with your favorite local nonprofits and perhaps I can include them in a future column before the year is out.

If your holiday season includes giving to worthy nonprofits, consider a gift to a conservation organization. Birds and wildlife are precious resources and, as the saying goes (sort of anyway), “preserve land because they aren’t making any more.”

For the Birds runs on Mondays in The Sentinel. Chris Bosak may be reached at chrisbosak26@gmail.com or through his website http://www.birdsofnewengland.com