Giving Tuesday just a few days away
By Contributor
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, more and more Canadians are gearing up to spend.
What if there was a day each year dedicated to giving back in the midst of the holiday spending season? The first annual GivingTuesday is coming to Canada on Tuesday, December 3, the Tuesday following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to answer this need.
GivingTuesday, initiated in Canada by CanadaHelps and GIV3, marks the opening day of the giving season.
The movement encourages individuals and organizations to join together and find innovative ways to give back to the charities and causes they support throughout the holiday season.
Momentum is rapidly building, with 15 organizations having enthusiastically pledged their support by becoming GivingTuesday Founding Partners and inviting all Canadians to participate.
Charities, business, media and even individuals are encouraged to join in making a pledge to participate to make Canada’s first annual GivingTuesday a resounding success. Canadians can learn how to get involved or sign up for free partnership at GivingTuesday.ca.
The GivingTuesday movement was created by 92nd Street Y, which led the inaugural 2012 movement in partnership with the United Nations Foundation and a group of founding partners including The Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and Microsoft. Over 2,500 partners came together across the United States for the first GivingTuesday.
In the US last year, the collective efforts of partners, donors and advocates saw a significant increase in online charitable giving and key participant Paypal saw an increase of 487 per cent in online donations on the first GivingTuesday as compared to the Tuesday after US Thanksgiving the previous year.
“We are proud to be a founding partner of Canada’s first annual GivingTuesday,” said Marina
Glogovac, president and CEO, CanadaHelps. “GivingTuesday is an invitation not only to the charitable sector, but to all Canadians. We encourage everyone to participate by finding ways to give back to causes that are important to them, whether it is making donations to a charity of their choice or by volunteering in their communities.”
Given the overwhelming success in the US last year, GivingTuesday founding partners hope to make history in Canada in 2013. The goal is to inspire Canadians this year to build on the US momentum. The movement is welcoming Canadian charities, individuals, media and businesses of all sizes to participate and help spread the word.
“We are really excited to support this new movement, and to help people connect with their communities,” said John Hallward, Chairman, GIV3. “We want people to feel great giving…in December and throughout the year!”
