With 2012 coming to a close, it’s time to let your philanthropy shine through! ASES is proud to announce that we are part of Colorado Gives day, which takes place on December 4th. Colorado Gives Day is a 24-hour event, presented by Community First Foundation and FirstBank, dedicated to supporting Colorado nonprofits. Now is the time to support ASES’ important work with a generous donation. 100% of your donation goes to ASES.

You can donate wherever you live! FirstBank provides a $300,000 incentive fund that will be split proportionally among the participating organizations. The more donations ASES receives, the larger our share of the incentive fund. Last year almost $13 million was donated in 24 hours to Colorado nonprofit organizations. Help put ASES at the top of the list!

You can pre-schedule your donation to be applied on December 4^th through Colorado Gives Day. Click the donate button which will take you to the ASES page. Enter an amount, click “Schedule a Donation for Colorado Gives Day 12/4/2012,” fill in the other donation details, press “Add to Cart” button, and purchase!

 Donate today to support ASES’ programs:

• ASES National Solar Tour: showcasing thousands of solar homes and buildings while educating people throughout the country.
• SOLAR 2013: ASES’ annual conference, April 16-20 in Baltimore, this year with an added focus on young professionals.
• Solar@Work: providing business-related information about our global energy crisis and real-time news about the solar industry.
• SOLAR TODAY Magazine: now in paper and digital formats!

We know that ASES’ supporters are among the most generous people in the country. That’s why we’re sure that you’ll dig deep to support ASES’ programs that educate and advocate for clean energy. This is YOUR chance to be a philanthropist; even a little can go a long way.

GivingFirst.org is made possible by Community First Foundation, a Denver-based nonprofit. As part of their mission to encourage philanthropy in our communities, the Foundation covers all credit card processing fees on donations made through GivingFirst.org

Community First Foundation helps donors and nonprofits come together to improve quality of life in the Denver metro area. We use our resources to fund community programs, support the services of nonprofit organizations, and assist individuals with charitable giving. By monitoring the pulse of the community, we create new and innovative programs such as GivingFirst.org, an online giving resource, and Colorado Gives Day, an initiative that inspired Coloradans to donate more than $8.4 million in one day last year. We’ve been serving the region since 1975.

GivingFirst.org is an online resource featuring hundreds of Colorado charities. Made possible by Community First Foundation, it encourages charitable giving by providing comprehensive, objective and up-to-date information about local charities–and an easy way to support them online.

If you enjoy the Tour and want to support its growth into the future, please donate now. A generous donor has offered to match dollar for dollar all contributions given during the Solar Tour weekend! Help ASES reach their goal of $10,000!

Donate now at causes.com/ases to help expand the nation’s largest solar event!

The 17^th Annual National Solar Tour takes place on October 6, 2012, brought to you by the American Solar Energy society (ASES) in thousands of communities around the country, staged by local organizers: your neighbors and locally-owned businesses.

Find a tour near you at http://ases.org/solar-tour/. Plan to attend, and bring your friends!

Photo Credit: Dennis Schroeder

The annual ASES Gala Awards Dinner at WREF 2012 was a night to remember. Attendees enjoyed presentations from two prominent speakers, Dennis Dimick and Bill Ritter who intertwined policy and press to share a vision of an energy vision throughout the world.

The first speaker at the Gala was Dennis Dimick from the National Geographic. He is the Executive Environmental Editor for the National Geographic and is responsible for all things related to energy, climate, and sustainability seen in the magazine. His presentation was built on dozens of award-winning photographs from numerous National Geographic photographers that displayed “The Era of Man: Stewardship in the Anthropocene.”

Our second speaker was Former Governor Bill Ritter. He is now heading up CSU’s Center for the New Energy Economy which focuses on accelerating the nation’s development of a new and clean energy economy. His talk focused on a roadmap for decision makers around the country to guide them into a secure, sustainable, and affordable energy future.

Banquet attendees along with an anonymous donor who matched all funds generously donated to support ASES in it’s mission to speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy.

If you were unable to attend the event you can still offer your support.