Giving Tuesday is a global philanthropic movement that takes place annually on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States, falling after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. As the holiday shopping season approaches for many, Giving Tuesday serves as a reminder of the importance of community and altruism.
Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for individuals and organizations worldwide to come together in the spirit of generosity. This annual event inspires people to donate their time, resources, and talents to various causes that they feel connected to. Anyone can contribute and nonprofits everywhere are encouraged to participate.
This year, Giving Tuesday is on December 3, 2024. Some might say that it's a little late, but we say it's the perfect way to prime the pump for a show-stopping beginning to year-end giving. By launching the campaign early, nonprofits can capitalize on Giving Tuesday momentum to build energy for a month of giving endig on December 31.
Established in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, Giving Tuesday's primary goals are to encourage people to engage in charitable giving and volunteerism during the holiday shopping season and to highlight the value of philanthropic support. Giving Tuesday is a counter to the consumer frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
There are no rules to participate in Giving Tuesday! The only requirement is that you have a way for donors to give. No signups, no costs to take part, nothing to purchase. In fact, there are loads of resources for nonprofit organizations to utilize on Giving Tuesday, from press releases to free images to statistics.
The origins of Giving Tuesday began as an answer to the consumerism of the year-end holiday season in the United States, specifically the American post-Thanksgiving buying weekend spanning Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday has grown almost every year since 2012 and continues to spread the radical generosity movement across the globe.
On Giving Tuesday, donors are expected to lean into radical generosity and provide charitable donations to community foundations and their favorite nonprofits. Nonprofits are expected to set fundraising goals, reach out to potential donors, and tap into their base of supporters for a national day of giving. Along with the GivingTuesday community, charitable organizations make the ask!
While Black Friday is largely an in-person shopping frenzy, Giving Tuesday is a primarily digital giving event, with online donations being the most common way that supporters give. Keeping that in mind, a tried-and-true tactic is combining email campaigns and social media posts. Other fundraising efforts include one-day events or peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
Forget any kind of fancy-pants jargon; rather than being about what your independent organization says, Giving Tuesday is about where you say it. The GivingTuesday community is doing the big work of spreading this celebration of generosity; you just need to make the ask on your social media platforms and through your email list.
The biggest giving day of the year is December 31, not Giving Tuesday. With the way Giving Tuesday has grown since 2012, though, it could overtake December 31 one day—you never know! Millions of people give billions of dollars on Giving Tuesday; while it's not the biggest giving day, it's probably the biggest fundraising day!
Giving Tuesday is technically just one day, for nonprofits running peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns or other multi-day digital giving events, this fundraiser may start earlier or go on past a simple 24 hours. No matter how long your future campaign runs, a successful fundraising idea will have a user-friendly and streamlined donation form.
Thinking of signing up for Giving Tuesday? Friend, there's no need; Giving Tuesday is a movement, a simple idea. It belongs to everyone and no one. To make the most of this day for nonprofits, though, you may want to download Funraise's Giving Tuesday Toolkit or check out the additional resources at GivingTuesday.org.