Many ways to give on GivingTuesday
GivingTuesday, an international nonprofit with a mission to create a better world through collaborative kindness, will be Dec. 3.
GivingTuesday will be Tuesday, Dec. 3.
“GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement that unleashes the power of radical generosity around the world,” according to the organization’s website at www.givingtuesday.org.
GivingTuesday defines radical generosity as “the concept that the suffering of others should be as intolerable to us as our own suffering.”
The nonprofit is invested in communities around the world.
GivingTuesday was created in 2012 in New York City at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact. The idea was to create a day that encourages people to do good. It has grown to span six continents.
The nonprofit is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a host of other individuals, groups and organizations including Google.org, Microsoft, PayPal, the Ford Foundation and Schwab Charitable.
The website lists ideas for 50 acts of kindness individuals might try on GivingTuesday. Some examples include the following:
—Make extra soup and offer some to a neighbor.
—Pay for the coffee or meal of the person behind you in line at a restaurant or drive-thru.
—Drop off books at a Little Free Library.
—Ask for donations instead of gifts for your next special occasion.
—Offer free babysitting to a parent who could use a break.
—Thank sanitation workers and delivery drivers by leaving a note or small gift.
—Keep snacks and water in your car to hand out to anyone who needs them.
—Write a positive review for a small business.
—Write a handwritten letter to someone who has made a difference in your life.
There are no fees for nonprofits to participate in GivingTuesday. GivingTuesday offers resources at no charge including a toolbox with social media and email templates and logos and graphics.
While most are familiar with nonprofits asking for donations on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, GivingTuesday also encourages community members to dive in and create giving projects. Examples on the website include everything from community gardens to time banks and a project that started in Georgia to raise money for a whole group of nonprofits in their state. In 2022 it raised over $29 million.
A group of Canadian residents painted antique chairs, held a CHAIRity event to auction them off and used the proceeds for community meals. Similar to what is offered to existing nonprofits, individuals wanting to start a local project also will find support and resources through GivingTuesday.
There is no formal registration required for organizations or individuals.
GivingTuesday.org says, “Each one of us, through small acts of generosity, can change our society and change our world. It starts with you. Just one act of kindness a day can not only reduce your stress and anxiety; it can improve the well-being of the person you were kind to and inspire everyone who witnessed the act of kindness.”