Guest blog by Adrienne Aarts, Leadership Giving Officer

From June 17-20, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's Builder’s Circle came out to St. Paul for our annual Builder’s Circle Build to see first-hand the direct impact of their generosity. Our Builder’s Circle members are individuals or families who donate $1,000 or more annually, already leading the way in philanthropy, and this week they got to take a hands-on approach to giving by volunteering on site.

Guest blogger: Steve O’Malley
Habitat 500 rider and supporter

Like many other nonprofits, Twin Cities Habitat is dedicated to making the most of every dollar entrusted to us. And just like any other local builder and developer, Twin Cities Habitat is at the mercy of the local real estate market when it comes to purchasing land to build our homes.

We also feel the same competition other homebuyers experience when it comes to purchasing homes that we repair or update and sell to our qualified buyers. That's why when an individual, company, congregation or other community group decides to donate a home, land, or other property in support of our mission, it's definitely something we celebrate.

"Believe it or not, land is one of our top needs and directly impacts our mission," said Laura Tanner, Major Gifts and Planned Giving Officer at Habitat.

When Don and Jo Gustafson finally sat down to create their will, they found it to be a surprisingly simple process. And their decision about what to do with their home was just as easy: they would donate it to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. That decision was years in the making.

It's November 27—Happy Giving Tuesday!

Giving Tuesday is a "global movement to inspire individuals to help others through the gift of time, donations, goods or using their voice in support of a cause." This year, we're asking supporters to sign up to support our Multiplying the Impact campaign, as we seek to double the number of Habitat homeownership opportunities we're able to provide for local families.

With Thanksgiving just days away, are you looking forward to or dreading the family table conversations? If you fall into the latter category (even if you don't), you might get a good laugh from this 2015 sketch on Saturday Night Live called "A Thanksgiving Miracle." In the sketch, a family barely makes it into their Thanksgiving dinner when they start arguing. But then something happens that miraculously brings everyone together: Adele's hit song "Hello" starts playing, and no one can resist singing along. It's hilarious.

At Habitat, we know something else that brings people together: home. We believe that everyone deserves a safe, stable place to call home. When we advocate for policies that support affordable housing, politicians of every political stripe get on board. Here are a few ideas of things you can do with your family that also make a positive difference for housing in the Twin Cities.

For Todd Roach and his family, giving has always been a part of family life.

Halloween has come and gone, and that means it's time to kick off Minnesota's annual season of giving with Give to the Max, starting today through November 15!

Twin Cities Habitat relies on support from the local community in order to carry out our work each and every day. The material donations and financial contributions help us combat high costs associated with construction and repair work, and helps to keep mortgages affordable for homebuyers. One group of donors help to lay the foundation for our work by making convenient, ongoing monthly contributions to our organization. These sustaining donors are members of our Carpenter's Club.

Guest Blog by Grant Gray
Leadership Giving Officer

With hot coffee and fresh donuts in hand, Builder's Circle volunteers gathered at a Habitat build site for a morning safety talk from Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Site Supervisor Dave Madzo and AmeriCorps Matt Benson. As they wrapped up the talk Dave reminded the volunteers that at the heart of everything we do, “Habitat is about building communities."