A New Form of Giving is Picking Up Steam

We have all heard about Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving that officially kicks off the holiday shopping season.  A few years ago, on-line retailers started promoting Cyber Monday – which is the Monday after Thanksgiving – on which on-line retailers provide some of the best prices for their products.

Now, a new day has been added to the list – Giving Tuesday, which follows Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Giving Tuesday is a campaign designed to create a national day of giving at the start of the year-end charitable giving season.

Giving Tuesday was started in 2012, when New York City’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation joined their efforts to enlist corporations and nonprofits in launching Giving Tuesday.  It was followed up by another Giving Tuesday in 2013.

After just two years, Giving Tuesday has made a difference.  In 2012, over $10 million in donations were made on Giving Tuesday, with an average gift of $102.  But this past year, the amount donated nearly doubled.  Seven thousand nonprofits participated in Giving Tuesday in 2013, and $19.2 million was donated as part of the campaign.  In addition, the average gift increased to $142. Network for Good reported that it processed 13,435 gifts, for a total of $1.8 million, an increase from $1 million in 2012.

The biggest winner was the city of Baltimore.  The organization GiveCorps, launched a “B’more Gives More” campaign with a citywide goal of raising $5 million. In response, the city’s residents donated $5.5 million.

For those organizations looking for information about how to participate in Giving Tuesday for 2014, you can visit the campaign website.