Today, in honor of #GivingTuesday, I encourage you to support the following organizations, as I will. All of them are doing great important work.

Boston Opera Collaborative, devoted to developing the careers of emerging artists through entrepreneurship training and performance opportunities.

Indie Opera Podcast, which provides and independent voice in the opera world.

Resonance Works Pittsburgh, committed to bringing classical music of all genres to venues across Pittsburgh.

ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union, which fights to preserve the individual rights and freedoms granted by the US Constitution.

Planned Parenthood, which defends the rights of the individual to manage their own fertility as well as providing affordable and necessary healthcare to men and women across America.

CAIR-New York, which advocates on behalf of the rights of American Muslims, and combats Islamophobia.

New York Cares, which matches people who want to volunteer with organizations in need of volunteers, thereby improving education, meeting the immediate needs of New Yorkers living in poverty, and revitalizing public spaces.

Who will you be giving to on #GivingTuesday? Share in the comments if you have a favorite non-profit.

We are in the midst of #OperaWeek, as ordained by Opera America, an organization dedicated to strengthening the opera community. Today is, specifically, #OperaAdvocacy day, on which members of the community are asked to lobby lawmakers to support legislation that benefits our beloved art form. They've provided lots of information, if you'd like to be involved.

Another way that you can be a great advocate for opera is to actively support organizations that promote, produce, or perform opera. Here's a list of my favorites (with minimal apologies for my obvious biases). Give them money. Go to see their performances. Share their news with your network.

Boston Opera Collaborative: an organization devoted to developing entrepreneurial artists, who will be the future of opera in America. Their production, Opera Bites, will be performed November 11-13.

Indie Opera Podcast: bringing an independent voice to the opera industry. There are 30 episodes available for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Resonance Works | Pittsburgh: a performance organization that not only performs opera, but also chamber music, choral music, orchestral music, and everything else you can imagine at venues across Pittsburgh. Their annual production of holiday favorite, Amahl and the Night Visitors, will be December 16 & 18.

You can also find out what is going on in your area through the National Opera Week calendar of events.

Buy tickets. Invite your friends. Show up. Donate. Support opera.