Yesterday was Colorado Gives Day.  It’s a great opportunity to give to charities that help the neediest of Coloradans – and for those charities to receive matching funds.  In fact, the event raised over $20 million dollars for Colorado nonprofits, according to The Denver Post.  We fully support that.  That said, searching the #ColoradoGives hashtag, we were dismayed to see that several of the organizations participating in Colorado Gives Day were liberal organizations with a left-leaning political mandate, such a Colorado Ethics Watch, Conservation Colorado, and New Era Colorado.  See the tweets here:

I gave to @COEthicsWatch! RT @OdellBrewing: Today is #ColoradoGives Day. Who are you donating to? https://t.co/MlxH5QNFPf

— Luis Toro (@_luistoro) December 10, 2013

#coloradogives love to @WomensBean and @ConservationCO

— Kathryn Poindexter (@klpoindexter) December 10, 2013

I’m giving to @NewEraColorado RT @ConnectColorado: One thing I love about #COGivesDay: Being able to schedule several charities at once!…

— Courtney Law (@cenlaw) December 10, 2013

We’re not alleging that these organizations don’t fulfill the basic requirements of the program (i.e., 501c3 status), but we’re questioning the concept of supporting organizations with a political objective on a day meant to support organizations that benefit those less fortunate.  We’re not saying it’s “illegal” – just maybe that it’s smarmy.

Here are some examples from above.  If you’re reading this blog and don’t know what Colorado Ethics Watch is, we don’t know what to tell you.  Basically, CEW sues conservative politicians and organizations for nit-picky transgressions.  Conservation Colorado has provided canvassers for the left for years.  New Era Colorado, which amazingly has the same tagline as the Obama campaign and MSNBC (Forward), and supplies campaign support for Democratic candidates.  And, there may be examples on the right too.  We’re not exempting them from criticism – we just didn’t see folks donating to them on Twitter.

It just seems that Colorado Gives Day should benefit organizations that help the homeless, battered women, and children, not bolster organizations set up by Pat Stryker and her cronies to influence legislation and elections.