What is GivingTuesday? The annual day of charitable giving is coming up
Since it started as a hashtag in 2012, Giving on Tuesdaythe Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is one of the biggest fundraising days of the Year for US Nonprofits
According to GivingTuesday estimates, GivingTuesday will have raised $3.1 billion for well-placed organizations in 2022 and 2023.
This year, GivingTuesday falls on December 3.
The hashtag #GivingTuesday started in 2012 as a project of the 92nd Street Y in New York and became an independent organization in 2020. It has grown into a global network of local organizations that promote giving in their communities, often on different dates with local relevance, such as holidays.
Now, the nonprofit GivingTuesday is also convening researchers working on topics related to everyday giving. It too collects data from a wide range of sources, such as payment processors, crowdfunding sites, employee giving software and institutions that offer it donor-advised fundsa kind of charity account.
The hashtag has started promote generosity and the nonprofit continues to promote giving in its broadest sense.
For nonprofits, the purpose of GivingTuesday is to raise money and many will be familiar with the barrage of emails and mail-in appeals that coincide with the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Essentially, all major U.S. nonprofits will be organizing fundraising campaigns, and many smaller, local groups are participating as well.
Nonprofits do not need to be affiliated in any way with GivingTuesday, the organization, to run a fundraising campaign. They can just do it, although GivingTuesday does provide images and advice. That way it remains a grassroots effort, with groups and donors participating however they choose.
That depends on how success is measured, but it has certainly gone far beyond the initial attempt to promote giving on social media. The day has become an enduring and well-known event that aims to highlight charitable giving, volunteerism and civic participation in the US and around the world.
GivingTuesday has been a major fundraising focus for nonprofits for years, with many seeking to organize matching donations from major donors and leveraging their networks of supporters to contribute. It’s the beginning of the end of year rush to raise moneyas nonprofits look to achieve their budget goals for the following year.
GivingTuesday donations in 2022 and 2023 reached $3.1 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2021. While that’s a lot to raise in one day, the trend was flat last year and with fewer donorswhich according to the organization is a worrying sign.
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