Giving Tuesday 2025: Help Us Make Known the World of Water
Each year, Giving Tuesday invites people around the world to come together in a celebration of generosity, community, and shared purpose. This global movement (held the first Tuesday after U.S. Thanksgiving) is a reminder that every act of giving—large or small—creates ripple effects of positive change.
For the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA), that ripple effect touches classrooms, coastlines, communities, and learners of all ages. With your support, we work every day to advance ocean literacy—an understanding of the ocean’s influence on us and our influence on the ocean—and to empower the educators who bring this knowledge to life.
As Giving Tuesday returns, we invite you to stand with NMEA in strengthening the connections between people and our one global ocean.
Why Your Support Matters
NMEA is proud to be an active U.S. Nexus organization in the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Our members, committees, and partners continue to champion ocean literacy locally, nationally, and internationally—supporting educators as they teach the Essential Principles of Ocean Literacy, embed ocean science in curricula, and spark the next generation of ocean stewards.
Your generosity directly fuels this work. When you give to NMEA, you help us:
Support Educators and Advance Equity
Provide scholarships through our Equity & Belonging and Traditional Knowledge committees
Offer discounted or sponsored memberships for educators in need
Create opportunities for educators from historically excluded communities to participate in conferences, trainings, and leadership roles
Grow Ocean Literacy Across All Learning Spaces
Strengthen the USA Blue Schools Network
Equip educators with research-backed tools like the Ocean Literacy Framework and the Handbook for Increasing Ocean Literacy
Support NMEA chapter activities, workshops, and professional learning opportunities
Keep Our Annual Conference Accessible
Your donations help ensure that our yearly gathering remains an affordable, inspiring place for educators to share ideas, build skills, and connect with colleagues—continuing the tradition of uplifting ocean and aquatic education in every region.
Ways to Give This Giving Tuesday
There are many meaningful ways to participate—on your own or together with your community:
Give Your Voice
Share your passion for the ocean, Great Lakes, rivers, and watersheds. Start conversations, amplify ocean literacy resources, and help others understand their connection to the water that sustains us all.
Give Your Time
Volunteer on one of NMEA’s hardworking committees. Present on ocean literacy at an event. Mentor a new educator. Help strengthen your chapter’s local impact.
Give Your Money
Your tax-deductible donation—whether $20, $60, $100, or any amount—empowers educators, supports equity initiatives, funds resources, and fuels our mission year-round.
Give Goods
Share unused teaching materials with a colleague, donate curriculum supplies to a new educator, or contribute ocean-themed books and tools to local learning programs.
Inspire Others
Generosity is contagious. Encourage your community to join the movement and share how you’re taking action using #GivingTuesday.
Together, We Move Toward Our Vision
NMEA envisions a world where:
Every person understands the ocean and all watersheds
Marine and aquatic education is integrated into all levels of science learning
Communities recognize their personal connection to water and act with stewardship
Your support helps bring that vision closer—one educator, one classroom, and one learner at a time.
Make a Gift Today
If NMEA has inspired, supported, or empowered you—and if you believe in building a more ocean-literate society—please consider a contribution this Giving Tuesday.
Your generosity strengthens our shared mission to make known the world of water—both fresh and salt.
Thank you for being part of the NMEA community. We are truly grateful for you.