What is GivingTuesday? How to donate on the annual day of charitable giving

Since it started as a hashtag in 2012, GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, has become one of the biggest fundraising days of the year for nonprofits in the U.S.

In 2022 and 2023, GivingTuesday raised $3.1 billion for chartitable organizations, according to estimates from GivingTuesday.

This year, GivingTuesday is on Dec. 3. Melinda French Gates announced plans to match up to $1 million in gifts to two nonprofit organizations to help spur more gifts on the day.

How did GivingTuesday start?

The #GivingTuesday hashtag started as a project of the 92nd Street Y in New York in 2012 and became an independent organization in 2020. It's grown into a worldwide network of local organizations that promote giving in their communities, often on different dates that have local relevance, like holidays.

Now, GivingTuesday, the nonprofit, also convenes researchers working on topics about everyday giving. It also collects data from a wide range of sources like payment processors, crowdfunding sites, employee giving software and institutions that offer donor-advised funds, a kind of charitable giving account.

What is the purpose of GivingTuesday?

For nonprofits, the point of GivingTuesday is to raise money and engage their supporters. Many will be familiar with the barrage of email and mail appeals that coincide on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Essentially all major American nonprofits will organize fundraising campaigns and many smaller, local groups also participate.

Nonprofits don't have to be affiliated in any way with GivingTuesday, the organization, to run a fundraising campaign. They can just do it, though GivingTuesday does provide graphics and advice. In that way, it remains a grassroots effort with groups and donors participating however they like.

How to donate on GivingTuesday?

There is essentially no wrong way to choose what nonprofit or cause to give to, volunteer with or champion.

Asha Curran, CEO of the nonprofit GivingTuesday, suggests looking at what your friends, relatives or connections have supported and consider matching their gift. That means giving the same amount to the same nonprofit.

You could consider giving to organizations based in your community, whose impact will be felt locally, which may be especially relevant after recent devastating storms and disasters. You could also choose to support a nonprofit that works on a cause you have a personal connection to. There are also many organizations that rate nonprofits or offer analysis about which organizations are most effective, though you will see a range of opinions on what it means to be effective.

Many nonprofits appreciate donors committing to give smaller gifts each month rather than one lump sum at the end of the year. These regular donations help them plan ahead.

You can also consider giving directly to people on crowdfunding sites or through mutual aid networks.

Curran said mutual aid networks are, "an intermediary between people who have things and people who need things. Sometimes those can be the same people, which I love.''

Has GivingTuesday been successful?

For years, GivingTuesday has been a major focus of fundraising for nonprofits, with many seeking to organize matching donations from major donors and to leverage their networks of supporters to contribute. It is the beginning of the end-of-year fundraising rush, as nonprofits seek to reach their budget targets for the following year.

Donations on GivingTuesday in 2022 and 2023 reached $3.1 billion, an increase from $2.7 billion in 2021. While that's a lot to raise in a single day, the trend last year was flat and with fewer donors giving, which the organization said is a worrying sign.

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