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 US. This year, nonprofits are facing uncertainty about how donors may respond to a variety of changing factors.
Higher prices could impact how much small dollar donors donate this year or how many charities they support. But President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law, passed in July, also included a new charitable deduction for most tax filers up to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for married couples. This may encourage more families to donate.
For large donors, a strong stock market usually signals that they will donate generously. According to a study by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in partnership with Bank of America, these major donors make up a significant portion of overall charitable giving and are more likely to give than less financially affluent families.
Nonprofits are also telling potential supporters about the many new challenges this year, with many human services organizations facing cutbacks in government funding, most notably the cut in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits last month. And many charities are highlighting programs that will match or multiply donations to demonstrate increased impact – even by a factor of five at some nonprofits.
Overall, this leads to the establishment of GivingTuesday, a big day of fundraising for American nonprofits on December 2.
The #GivingTuesday hashtag began in 2012 as a project of the 92nd Street Y in New York and became an independent organization in 2020. It has grown into a worldwide network of local organizations that promote giving in their communities, often on different dates that have local relevance, such as holidays.
Now, the nonprofit organization, GivingTuesday, also convenes researchers working on everyday giving topics. It collects data from a wide range of sources such as payment processors, crowdfunding sites, employee giving software, and institutions that offer charity-advised funds, a type of charitable giving account.
The hashtag was started to promote generosity and the nonprofit continues to promote giving in the broadest sense.
For nonprofits, the purpose of GivingTuesday is to raise funds and engage their supporters. Many people will be familiar with the flood of emails and mail appeals that occur on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Essentially all major US nonprofits will hold fundraising campaigns and many smaller, local groups will also participate.
Nonprofits are not required to be affiliated in any way with the organization GivingTuesday to run a fundraising campaign. They can do just that, although GiveTuesday provides graphics and advice. As such, it is a grassroots effort in which groups and donors participate on their own volition.
There’s essentially no wrong way to choose which nonprofit to donate to, who 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. This means giving the same amount to the same nonprofit.
“This is a double act of generosity,” Curran said. “You’re contributing to the cause and you’re also saying, ‘I really care about what you care about.'”
You may consider giving to organizations based in your community, whose impact will be felt locally. You may also choose to support a nonprofit organization that works on a cause that you have a personal connection to. There are also a number of organizations that rate nonprofits or offer analysis about which organizations are the most effective, although you will see a variety of opinions on what it means to be effective.
Many nonprofits appreciate donors committing to making small gifts each month rather than a lump sum at the end of the year. These regular donations help them plan ahead.
You might also consider giving directly to people, on crowdfunding sites or through mutual aid networks, which are often small, informal groups organized to meet local needs.
It depends on how success is measured, but it has certainly gone far beyond an initial effort to promote donations on social media. The day has become an enduring and well-known event that seeks to center charitable giving, volunteerism, and civic engagement in the US and around the world.
For years, GivingTuesday has been a hotbed of fundraising for nonprofits, with many looking to organize matching donations from major donors and leverage their networks of supporters to contribute. It’s the beginning of the year-end fundraising rush, as nonprofits try to reach their budget goals for the next year.
Donations on Giving Tuesday reach $3.6 billion in 2024, more than the previous two years.
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits is supported through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
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