The brief season of summer fundraising is almost over. Island nonprofits that rely on part-time residents to subsidize shrinking budgets are tallying up their take from an almost dizzying succession of cocktail parties, dinner dances and auctions, silent and otherwise, and taking stock of what it means for the year ahead.

Generosity, measured not only by philanthropic gifts, is alive and well on the Vineyard, but the number of people in need has also increased. And this year, would-be donors are being tapped as never before in the quadrennial run-up to the presidential election.

Campaign finance numbers are staggering. Here in Massachusetts, the race for the U.S. Senate between Elizabeth Warren and incumbent Scott Brown has quickly become the most expensive in history, with combined contributions topping forty-six million dollars through the first two quarters of the year. In July alone, the two major presidential candidates raised more than one hundred and seventy six million nationwide (one-hundred and one million by Mitt Romney; seventy-five million by President Obama). Fueled by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, millions of dollars of additional contributions are also pouring into issue-oriented advocacy Super PACs.

It is not clear that the extraordinary spending on the November election has any direct negative effect on charitable contributions of other kinds. And there is no doubt that the stakes in the upcoming election are high. But donor fatigue is a real affliction facing nonprofit organizations on the Vineyard and elsewhere, and there is growing concern about competition for dollars for worthy causes.

Once the party tents come down and seasonal residents start returning to their winter homes, it becomes much more difficult for Island charities to raise money for services that keep the Island alive year-round. Contributing to organizations that work directly to sustain the Vineyard — its people, its culture and its environment — is in itself a powerful political act, and one with a much more tangible impact. Now is a good time to give.