November 27th, 2012 marked the first ever #GivingTuesday, and since then the global movement has been making waves in social media and media streams, sparking hundreds of volunteer projects and resulting in millions of donations towards charities globally.
This day dedicated to giving—time, money, and resources—has been engaging the minds and hearts of people around the world. Its philanthropic message has gone global and inspired a multitude of cities, countries, corporations, and organizations alike to take part. Now in its third year, #GivingTuesday has exciting goals and hopes for 2014 where the idea of giving will no longer be a concept, but a habitual action easily achievable for all.
Like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday began in the U.S., founded by 92nd Street Y, a cultural and community center in New York City, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. To launch the initiative in 2012, we brought together a team of leaders from government, business, nonprofit, and technology organizations to lend their expertise, insights, and networks to the project.
Last year, Blackbaud reported that online giving on #GivingTuesday was up 90 percent compared to 2012, and the average online gift rose from about $102 to about $142. Around the United States and in more than 40 countries around the world, over 10,000 partners came together to bring #GivingTuesday to the world. The creativity of campaigns underscores the universal human inclination to give to those in need, whether in cash or by volunteerism.
The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to #GivingTuesday in both social and traditional media is inspiring. At the peak of activity on December 3rd, 2013, the hashtag was tweeted 700 times per minute, trended for more than ten hours in the U.S. and saw a 388 percent participation increase since the previous year’s launch. One social media trend that caught fire was the “UNselfie,” an altruistic reversal of the ubiquitous “selfie.” For the UNselfie, people took pictures of themselves giving back in an act of “conspicuous compassion”; more than 7,000 UNselfies were posted.
The way #GivingTuesday caught the public's imagination was a surprise to all of us, but we were even more surprised to see it spread internationally. CanadaHelps brought together more than 1300 partners in Canada, who helped to increase donations 169 percent. #GivingTuesday 2013 was also reported as the biggest online giving day in Israel’s history. Through the work of United Nations Development Program, #GivingTuesday was even celebrated in Burundi, where UNDP organized a blood drive to increase the supply of blood to hospitals and clinics across the country.
#GivingTuesday also caught the attention of a huge range of organizations and corporations who signed on as partners. Countries and regions around the world—Australia, Canada, Israel, Latin America, and Singapore—led their own movements in 2013; they are joined this year by the United Kingdom, Brazil, and others. Within the U.S., regional efforts also brought communities together for the greater good.
The goals set for 2014 are raising the bar even higher to attain an even greater outcome. Our goals this year reflect the needs of the participants and the continual growth this movement is extremely capable of. Through more civic engagement, we hope to celebrate and inspire charitable giving throughout the year. Through more global engagement, we hope this widespread movement will reach all continents and unite nations through a shared philanthropic vision. We have made several innovations and additions to our plan, one in particular implements an educational aspect that offers the unique opportunity to engage in webinars provided by our partners and access various toolkits that will help kick-start #GivingTuesday act(s) of compassion. Overall, the #GivingTuesday goals reflect the action of giving in ways that are more intelligent, intentional, and even greater than the year prior. We will continue to monitor and measure the success stories to make sure that our participants are not only participating in giving, but also that their strategies are better, smarter and result in bigger impacts.
Ultimately, giving feels good. The #GivingTuesday movement evokes a shared sense of civic pride, passion, positivity, and unity. Everyone can be a philanthropist, we are all a part of “Generation Give”, and share a common human thread: the desire to help others. #GivingTuesday engages that desire and amplifies it by weaving it into a universal web, encouraging individuals to be active participants in not only their own communities, but in the global community as well. With every act of service, we impact future generations, leaving a legacy of inspiration and responsibility to do the same. As President Obama has said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
What will you do on #GivingTuesday?
Aaron Sherinian is Vice President of Communications and Public Relations of the United Nations Foundation. Henry Timms is Executive Director of 92nd Street Y.
a global affairs media network
#GivingTuesday: Giving Gone Global! Uniting Nations, Uniting Humanity
September 19, 2014
November 27th, 2012 marked the first ever #GivingTuesday, and since then the global movement has been making waves in social media and media streams, sparking hundreds of volunteer projects and resulting in millions of donations towards charities globally.
This day dedicated to giving—time, money, and resources—has been engaging the minds and hearts of people around the world. Its philanthropic message has gone global and inspired a multitude of cities, countries, corporations, and organizations alike to take part. Now in its third year, #GivingTuesday has exciting goals and hopes for 2014 where the idea of giving will no longer be a concept, but a habitual action easily achievable for all.
Like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday began in the U.S., founded by 92nd Street Y, a cultural and community center in New York City, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. To launch the initiative in 2012, we brought together a team of leaders from government, business, nonprofit, and technology organizations to lend their expertise, insights, and networks to the project.
Last year, Blackbaud reported that online giving on #GivingTuesday was up 90 percent compared to 2012, and the average online gift rose from about $102 to about $142. Around the United States and in more than 40 countries around the world, over 10,000 partners came together to bring #GivingTuesday to the world. The creativity of campaigns underscores the universal human inclination to give to those in need, whether in cash or by volunteerism.
The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to #GivingTuesday in both social and traditional media is inspiring. At the peak of activity on December 3rd, 2013, the hashtag was tweeted 700 times per minute, trended for more than ten hours in the U.S. and saw a 388 percent participation increase since the previous year’s launch. One social media trend that caught fire was the “UNselfie,” an altruistic reversal of the ubiquitous “selfie.” For the UNselfie, people took pictures of themselves giving back in an act of “conspicuous compassion”; more than 7,000 UNselfies were posted.
The way #GivingTuesday caught the public's imagination was a surprise to all of us, but we were even more surprised to see it spread internationally. CanadaHelps brought together more than 1300 partners in Canada, who helped to increase donations 169 percent. #GivingTuesday 2013 was also reported as the biggest online giving day in Israel’s history. Through the work of United Nations Development Program, #GivingTuesday was even celebrated in Burundi, where UNDP organized a blood drive to increase the supply of blood to hospitals and clinics across the country.
#GivingTuesday also caught the attention of a huge range of organizations and corporations who signed on as partners. Countries and regions around the world—Australia, Canada, Israel, Latin America, and Singapore—led their own movements in 2013; they are joined this year by the United Kingdom, Brazil, and others. Within the U.S., regional efforts also brought communities together for the greater good.
The goals set for 2014 are raising the bar even higher to attain an even greater outcome. Our goals this year reflect the needs of the participants and the continual growth this movement is extremely capable of. Through more civic engagement, we hope to celebrate and inspire charitable giving throughout the year. Through more global engagement, we hope this widespread movement will reach all continents and unite nations through a shared philanthropic vision. We have made several innovations and additions to our plan, one in particular implements an educational aspect that offers the unique opportunity to engage in webinars provided by our partners and access various toolkits that will help kick-start #GivingTuesday act(s) of compassion. Overall, the #GivingTuesday goals reflect the action of giving in ways that are more intelligent, intentional, and even greater than the year prior. We will continue to monitor and measure the success stories to make sure that our participants are not only participating in giving, but also that their strategies are better, smarter and result in bigger impacts.
Ultimately, giving feels good. The #GivingTuesday movement evokes a shared sense of civic pride, passion, positivity, and unity. Everyone can be a philanthropist, we are all a part of “Generation Give”, and share a common human thread: the desire to help others. #GivingTuesday engages that desire and amplifies it by weaving it into a universal web, encouraging individuals to be active participants in not only their own communities, but in the global community as well. With every act of service, we impact future generations, leaving a legacy of inspiration and responsibility to do the same. As President Obama has said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
What will you do on #GivingTuesday?
Aaron Sherinian is Vice President of Communications and Public Relations of the United Nations Foundation. Henry Timms is Executive Director of 92nd Street Y.
