If you have a little bit extra to offer during the holiday season - whether it be money, or time spent in volunteerism - be of good cheer.

There are local organizations ready and willing to help you decide how to channel your resources in ways that can benefit the hundreds of nonprofits throughout the region.

At the Community Foundation Serving Boulder and Broomfield Counties, staff members are currently evaluating new grant proposals for the coming year. Thanks to funding provided by individual, family and corporate donations, the foundation gives grants to nonprofit groups working in the arts, civic engagement, education, the environment and health and human services. Since 1992, the Community Foundation has given more than $30 million in grants.

For those who would like to see their donations spread out to help a variety of worthy causes, the foundation's director of advancement, Gretchen Minekime, said a donation - and any size is welcome - to the Community Foundation's trust fund will benefit a wide range of Boulder County nonprofits.

"The money stays right here in Boulder County and allows us to be responsive to the community's needs," Minekime said.

After undergoing a rigorous evaluation process, all grant proposals coming in to the foundation are vetted by a board of community members, Minekime said.

"It's very much the community that creates and operates this," she said. "Community members help decide where the dollars will go. And it's a good way to know that your donation matters and that, regardless of its size, it has an impact," she added.

Last year, the Community Foundation gave out $314,000 in grants. This year, Minekime and her staff hope to top that amount.

"Our ability to do this totally depends on how much people give to our trust fund before the end of the year," she said. "And right now, we have a great push going on to increase the size of this fund," she added.

This push, the Community Trust Initiative, is a four-year campaign to raise $4 million. The initiative is in its second year and is endeavoring to reach the $2 million mark.

Minekime said the goals of this fund drive are to not only increase the dollars available to meet grant proposals, but also to create a fund that can be used for a specific focus of need in Boulder County - the achievement gap in early childhood education.

Another Boulder County nonprofit, the I Have A Dream Foundation, offers donors an opportunity to help an entire family in need.

For nearly two decades, I Have a Dream staff members have visited area schools, seeking the neediest students from low-income home environments.

The children selected are put in a program that monitors and mentors them until they graduate from high school. These children receive after-school tutoring and recreational opportunities, as well as assistance - along with their families - in the essentials of everyday living.

The goal of the I Have a Dream Foundation  is to help its children not only graduate high school, but also go on to attend either college or a vocational school, with the help of scholarships provided by the foundation.

"So many of these kids are at risk for dropping out," said I Have a Dream Chief Executive Lori Canova. "We want to make sure they stay in school. We try to give them an opportunity to find out what their dream is, and what their skills are, so they can take these skills to college or vocational school."

Canova said 90 percent of the foundation's students graduate high school - and of that 90 percent, 86 percent go on to college or vocational school. Since only about 50 percent of these children would finish high school without this extra help, the numbers attest to an astonishing rate of success.

At the moment, I Have a Dream is helping 250 students, as well as their families, bringing the current number of recipients to around 600 students and family members.

For the past decade, the foundation has also sponsored its Adopt A Family program, which is geared toward providing a few extras for its families during the holiday season.

Each child and family member puts together a wish list of three items - particularly items that they wouldn't ordinarily be able to buy on limited incomes, Canova said. This list is given to community donors, who wrap and purchase the gifts, which are then given out at the foundation's holiday parties held throughout December.

For this holiday project, I Have a Dream asks for a donation of $30 per person. While it is easiest to ask donors to adopt an entire family, any help is welcome.

"Some local companies will adopt an entire family, and each employee in the office or department will take one family member to give to," Canova said.

The I Have a Dream Foundation operates out of five locations, each of which services one "Dreamer Class" - a group of 50 students. At present, I Have a Dream is raising funds to create another Dreamer Class, which would provide funding to take on another 50 children.

     As the I Have a Dream Foundation reaches its second decade, many of its former children, now adults, have come back to tutor and mentor the new kids in the program, Canova said. This passing on of the torch is yet another testament to the success of the foundation and its mission.

"Our success has been because of the community," Canova said. "And it's because of the support we've received, that  these students can have so many caring adults in their lives."