Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have sucked your wallets (and possibly your souls) dry…it’s time to feel good about all of those online transactions. Giving Tuesday is about to invade your inbox and fill your newsfeed digital pleas of every shape and size – all asking for the little that’s probably left in your pocketbook.

NPR has reported that more than 350,000 charities participated in Giving Tuesday in 2014 – raising more than $46 million. That’s big business, especially for smaller non-profits – and the companies that make online giving tick. Blackbaud, most dominant provider of online philanthropic services will partner with Microsoft to create a #GivingTuesday “Dashboard” to show “giving trends” throughout the day. While more detailed online giving data will be gathered on this busiest of donation days – and will be crunched and analyzed in order to drive online strategies for Giving Tuesday and beyond.

For the donor, you and me, like any other day of the year, it’s important to know who to whom you’re giving – and how that gift will make an impact. Mashable provides a great list of tips to help guide your online giving to organizations that truly make a difference and make the most with each dollar donated. There are plenty of online resources, like Charity Navigator, to help you find a charity that best fits your personal values and interests.

Don’t think that Giving Tuesday will come and go and that will be the last you hear from charities both big and small this year. The onslaught “donate now” emails and Facebook posts will continue throughout the month of December as organizations race to meet their end-of-year budgets and urge potential donors to earn credit on their 2015 tax returns by giving before midnight on the 31st. That push works, as The Network for Good’s Digital Giving Index repots that 12% of online giving in 2014 happened on the last three days of the year.

So now you know why you’re getting all of that email. Because it works.

Happy charity hunting!