You’ve probably seen the hashtag #GivingTuesday pop up on your timeline but may not know exactly what it means. Let’s talk a little more about the history of Giving Tuesday and all that it stands for.
Giving Tuesday was conceived in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, who together came up with a simple idea: to create a day that encourages people to do good. It falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which represents the fact that it was conceived in part to counter the commercialization and consumerism of the holiday season. Giving Tuesday is meant to be a response to commercialized post-Thanksgiving holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Founders of the holiday intended to shift the focus of the holidays away from buying and receiving material items, and reframe the season as a time to help those less fortunate, especially in one’s own community.
Over the past seven years, Giving Tuesday has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people, as well as businesses and corporations, to “give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.” From organizational projects to community events to individual acts of kindness, Giving Tuesday has helped bring lots of holiday goodwill into the world. In fact, it is the largest giving movement worldwide.
To truly understand the extent of Giving Tuesday’s global impact, take a look at its numbers from 2018:
- Dollars raised online: $400 million+
- Total online gifts: 3.6 million
- Countries served: 150+
- Community coalitions: 110+
- Social media impressions: 14.2 billion
Giving Tuesday places an emphasis on showing generosity within your own community. They have even created a directory to help locate organizations, events, and opportunities to give back near you. Visit https://www.givingtuesday.org/whats-happening-near-me to learn more.
“GoodBookey was created in the spirit of giving and generosity,” says Carimus CEO Tony Pease. “The values behind Giving Tuesday are right in line with our own, so we see it as a great opportunity for people to hop on the GoodBookey platform and give ‘til it hurts!”
To celebrate Giving Tuesday, we want to showcase a couple of our GoodBookey charity partners and what they’re working on. We encourage you to show them your support in the spirit of charitable giving!
- The First Tee of the Triangle is striving to reach a fundraising goal of $15,000 in order to bring their Drive4Success afterschool program to a new school in southeast Raleigh. Help them create #GoodGolfersBetterPeople! https://bit.ly/2XO4bT2
- Wings for Warriors, an incredible nonprofit serving wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, seeks help not in the form of donations, but internships! They are looking to hire interns in administrative work, marketing/PR/communications, social media, grant writing, and event planning. Visit https://wingsforwarriors.org/ to learn more.
Whichever way you decide to celebrate Giving Tuesday, we hope that GoodBookey can be one part of it. In addition to the causes listed above, the GoodBookey app includes a wide range of charitable organizations and causes to give to, so you’re bound to find your passion, and chances are you’ll find at least one that is based in your local community. Spread the generosity and give until it hurts this #GivingTuesday. And stay tuned for more news on our charity partners – they’re trying to accomplish a whole lot this holiday season, and they need our help to do it!
