How To Get Involved With the 11th Annual GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday is recognized internationally on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year, GivingTuesday will be observed on Nov. 28. The movement aims to promote philanthropy and generosity by bringing together people, businesses, and charitable causes to further change in communities by bolstering giving back during the holiday season.

GivingTuesday’s origin story dates back to 2012. A group of innovators at the 92nd Street Y’s Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City set out to create a movement that utilized social media and technology to encourage charitable acts. “Over the next five to six years, we grew to such a remarkable extent and had to face what is the future of this movement. It is its own ecosystem and now an independent entity,” said Asha Curran, CEO and co-founder.

The movement is a wonderful way for individuals and organizations to give back to communities following the rabid consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The organization has engaged more than 30,000 organizations worldwide, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, PayPal, and Google.

According to Curran, the majority of GivingTuesday donations are from “everyday people giving $25, $50, $100.” Curran stated that the movement “has gone from being a holiday gift to being a habit and long-term behavior change.”

GivingTuesday by the Numbers

The GivingTuesday Data Commons releases an annual report on the impact of giving during the event. Here is a breakdown of GivingTuesday 2022 by the numbers.

– $3.1 billion: The amount donors in the United States gave, a 15% increase over 2021.

– Over $1 billion: Amount of United States donations that were made online.

– 35 million: The number of adults in the United States who participated.

– 85: The number of countries that participated in the movement.

– 82: The percentage of GivingTuesday participating nonprofits that tried something new.

The international generosity movement has a significant impact on global communities. “By sharing our resources, knowledge, and opportunities, we challenge the notion of hoarding and promote a more equitable distribution of wealth, resources, and privileges,” stated Kathleen Murphy Toms, GivingTuesday’s director of digital communications.

Curran stated on Peak Grantmaking, “There are so many different beliefs represented within the GivingTuesday movement, but it works because the part of the mission that we share is imagining a world that is radically more generous than what it is today.”

Entrepreneurial Change Driving GivingTuesday

“Generosity is a basic, positive human value. In today’s climate, it is a tremendously undervalued tool for depolarization,” said Curran. “It is really powerful to feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves.”

The GivingTuesday board includes Rob Reich, the board chair, as well as Laurence Belfer, Jeffrey L. Bradach, and Hilary Pennington. Social media fuels the movement, which has come a long way since its inception, thanks to using the hashtag #givingtuesday to start the conversation and keep it easily searchable.

“Back when GivingTuesday started, half of the people didn’t even know what a hashtag was, and asked, ‘Why are you doing this with the pound sign?’” recalled Curran. “It’s more global than we ever in a million years imagined. It was meant to be a hashtag to democratize the conversation about giving.”

Anyone interested in participating in GivingTuesday can donate to the charity of their choice or volunteer with a local organization. Other ways to get involved include spreading the word about the campaign on social media, starting a fundraiser for a favorite cause, organizing a team fundraiser, or volunteering to help a nonprofit with its GivingTuesday campaign.

Visit givingtuesday.org to learn more about how to get involved and which organizations you can donate to in your area.