From the Monterey County Gives! writer, praise for the un-sexy side of charitable giving.

In the 2010s, I was working for a nonprofit when I asked our community kitchen to describe its wish list. This organization made daily meals for hungry people and I figured they would pass me a list of goods like canned beans and peanut butter, which I would then obediently share with my audience.

This woman, who was running this kitchen and the local Meals on Wheels affiliate and also served as a state senator, gave me an exhausted look and candid response I will never forget.

“Cash. We need cash,” she replied bluntly. “Our lighting bill is several thousand dollars a month.”

Grants, at any size or level of complexity, rarely cover general operating expenses. Grants often fund specific projects. Think: paying for the snacks and dodgeballs that deliver summer camp fun for kids, but not the salaries for counselors. By restricting funding this way, according to prevailing behavior in the industry, trust between grantors and grantees grows based on quantitative results. Restricting nonprofits from using grant funds for nebulous budget items like overhead also keeps organizations from inflating salaries or other administrative costs.

MCGives! legitimizes this support as a critical need.

General operating support, the kind of unrestricted money that pays electric bills, typically comes from asking for cash – like this nonprofit director did to me that day. However, individual donors are not necessarily more inspired to pay for stamps, coffee pods or health insurance for employees.

This means nonprofits face a difficult conundrum. The elements of an unforgettable “elevator pitch” to all donors should include details about high-impact projects. But high-impact projects need fuel for liftoff. Who can talk about general operating support?

The Monterey County Gives! campaign walks this difficult tightrope for its nonprofits, during the time of year when about 20 percent of philanthropic donations are made in the U.S. The enormous fundraising engine of MCGives! serves as a megaphone for the importance of unrestricted funding to nonprofits helping our communities function. It legitimizes this support as a critical need.

I encourage you to closely read the MCGives! insert (and not just because I have had the pleasure of writing it for the last few years). You will see the honest descriptions of need from these deserving nonprofits, aka their Big Idea.

Organizations need help paying for gas. They need help paying rent, or help finding a mobile alternative as traditional rent rises out of budget. They need help helping others who need help paying medical bills. Help fighting fires, getting food into hungry peoples’ hands, maintaining beloved holiday traditions or our natural wonders.

Unrestricted funding is not sexy funding. But it catalyzes the Big Ideas that make real change. When you join thousands of your Monterey County neighbors in giving to the 208 nonprofits in MCGives! this year, you show true belief in their Big Ideas and an informed commitment to funding work that matters.

CAITLIN FILLMORE is a freelance writer in Monterey. Her work can be found at caitlinslhfillmore.com.