On #GivingTuesday More than 26,000 Partners around the World Come Together to Celebrate the Unifying Power of Giving
New York (PRWEB) December 04, 2014 -- New York, December 4, 2014 – This week, on the third annual #GivingTuesday, the new “opening day” of the holiday giving season, more than 20,000 partner organizations in the United States and more than 6,700 partners in dozens of additional countries across the globe came together to give back. Partners – including multi-national corporations and global organizations, as well as small and mid-size nonprofits and local businesses– engaged their networks to support causes they care about by giving their time, energy, talents, voices, and donations. In its third year, #GivingTuesday continued to use technology as a catalyst for supporting and traditional, community-based values and promoting creativity and collaboration in the nonprofit, corporate, philanthropic and civic sectors as well as in schools, colleges and families. The movement provided participating partners with resources to leverage the #GivingTuesday opportunity, and many participated in a huge range of educational offerings in which larger, well established partners shared their expertise and experience in webinars, meetups, toolkits and other forums.
"We have been overwhelmed by the tremendous generosity and creativity of the #GivingTuesday movement around the world,” said Henry Timms, executive director of 92nd Street Y, which founded #GivingTuesday in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. “The emerging data is powerful and shows continued growth and momentum, but the impact of #GivingTuesday goes far beyond the numbers. The response to #GivingTuesday – across national and geographic borders – tells a critically important human story. At a time when there are so many issues that pull people apart, #GivingTuesday reminds us that people are really looking for the things that unite us. We are so grateful to everyone who participated this year, and proud to see #GivingTuesday encourage the fundamental inclination to unite for the greater good.”
“This year #GivingTuesday went way beyond the Twitter stream and into the mainstream. We saw clearly that people everywhere want to give back, with their time, their energy, their money, and their voices,” said Kathy Calvin, president and CEO of the United Nations Foundation. “As an organization, our primary mission is to support the work of the United Nations in order to address the world’s most pressing problems. Through a global movement like #GivingTuesday, we connect that mission to broader audiences and people of all backgrounds who are giving back in a big way. This day has become a real rallying cry and global call to action and will continue to provide a meaningful launch to the holiday giving season.”
Statistics
The hashtag #GivingTuesday continues to tap into the power of social media, creating an online community of shared good will among those who give and the nonprofits and organizations that need their contributions to further their good work. The hashtag #GivingTuesday was tweeted 754,000 times which represents a 180% increase over usage last year. During the same period (from December 1 through December 3, ET), #UNselfie was tweeted 39,700 times (183% more than 2013), and more than 7,600 #UNselfie photos were posted on Instagram.
Research from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the Case Foundation shows the amount raised by nonprofits around #GivingTuesday increased by 63% over 2013, noting a preliminary estimate of nearly $46 million raised during the 24-hour #GivingTuesday period by five major donation processing platforms, largely by U.S.-based organizations. Based on initial results from Blackbaud, a leading global provider of software and services for nonprofits, U.S. online giving was up 36% among its clients, compared to #GivingTuesday 2013. Blackbaud processed more than $26.1 million in U.S. online donations on #GivingTuesday 2014, up from $19.2 million processed on #GivingTuesday in 2013. Blackbaud also saw a 15% increase in the number of nonprofit organizations that processed an online donation on #GivingTuesday 2014 compared to 2013. The online fundraising platform Network for Good reported that it processed more than $4,582,194 in donations across all its platforms and partners, with an increase in the volume (number) of donations up 195% from last year. PayPal reported a year-over-year increase of 66% in total payments to charities in Canada and the U.S. on #GivingTuesday, with a 101% increase in mobile payments to charities. Significant donation spikes have also been reported in the United Kingdom, including a 46% increase in giving, an 80% increase in text donations, and 270% increase in online donations.
High-profile support came in the form of a special message from President Obama and vocal support from British Prime Minister David Cameron, and in dozens of celebrity tweets, including Yo-Yo Ma, Malala, Justin Timberlake and Michael Palin, Queen Latifah and Amy Poehler. And Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love surprised 200 children in Cleveland, Ohio by joining Dick’s Sporting Goods to install basketball hoops in a local park.
Global Impact
This year, more than 6,700 partners in 28 countries outside the U.S. signed up to participate in the movement, and #GivingTuesday activities took place in 68 countries from Armenia to Mongolia to Wales. The growth was driven largely by localized #GivingTuesday movements in 7 countries and 2 regions outside the U.S., including Australia, Brazil (#diadedoar), Canada, Ireland, Israel, Latin America (#undiaparadar), New Zealand, Singapore and United Kingdom.
Civic Initiatives in the U.S.
More than 40 communities around the U.S. – counties, cities and states – brought together local businesses and organizations in a show of civic pride. Together, they joined forces to give back to their communities and celebrate local heroes. Among those local initiatives were:
• #GivingTuesdayBucks (Bucks County, PA) raised a total of $187,299, based on preliminary reports from 30 of the 100 organizations who signed up for the day.
• #GivingTuesdayAR (Arkansas) mobilized 217 organizations to participate in #GivingTuesday. Initial reports from 19 of those organizations indicate more than $63,000 raised, with many organizations yet to share results.
• #MDGivesMore (Maryland), which grew out of last year’s BMore Gives More in Baltimore, reported more than $8 million raised thus far, with results still coming in.
Partners in this year’s movement included large, international corporations and nonprofits as well as small businesses, local organizations, faith groups and schools throughout the country. These organizations created online fundraising and awareness campaigns, as well as real-time events that included clothing and food drives, volunteer opportunities and fundraising parties. Below are some examples of this year’s campaigns.
Fundraising Successes
The aggregated fundraising data reported by research organizations and transaction processors represents tens of thousands of individual and family decisions to make a positive impact on the issues that donors care about. Thousands of organizations and grassroots fundraising initiatives across the country and around the world are reporting on the creative #GivingTuesday fundraising initiatives that successfully engaged their supporters and will enable the organizations to drive positive change. The following is a small sampling of fundraising success stories:
• The University of Michigan’s first-ever 24-hour online fundraiser—#GivingBlueDay—met its goal and raised over $3 Million on #GivingTuesday.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region surpassed its goal of $1,200, which will support a mentor and child match for an entire year.
• The Museum of Jewish Heritage surpassed its $8,000 goal (double last year’s goal) to fund its Interfaith Living Museum program, which brings together 80 fifth graders from four schools, two Jewish and two Muslim. Over the course of a semester, the students work together to learn about how artifacts can teach us about heritage and bring in artifacts from their own homes to teach each other.
• The Michael J. Fox Foundation raised $390,549 on #GivingTuesday, in addition to a $100,000 matching grant, through 1,647 donations.
• 92Y, the New York cultural and community center where #GivingTuesday was created, received the “first gift” of #GivingTuesday – a $1 million dollar donation from more than 20 board members, in a fundraising challenge to its community. 92Y also shared its educational outreach concert, Maximus Musicus, with nearly 3,000 public school children in New York, and, via live webcast, schools in Argentina, Iceland and elsewhere. 92Y’s “knit-a-thon,” spearheaded by members of the Himan Brown Seniors Social Action Committee knitted nearly 300 hats and scarves for pediatric cancer patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and, with MommyNearest, 92Y collected 2,000 pieces of clothing and 5,000 toys for children in need.
• Due to the generosity of individual donors and corporations, combined with match funding provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign raised more than $362,000 to combat pneumonia by providing life-saving vaccines to children around the world. Pneumonia is one of the leading killers of children worldwide and the monies raised on #GivingTuesday will provide more than 72,000 children in developing countries access to the pneumococcal vaccine.
Volunteering Initiatives
Giving of time, energy, and talents is a core tenet of the #GivingTuesday movement, and this year partners engaged communities around the world in inspiring and impactful volunteer activations. Among #GivingTuesday 2014 volunteer initiatives were:
• The Philadelphia Orchestra performed a free concert for #GivingTuesday to celebrate local generosity and the holiday giving season, and in partnership with Cradles to Crayons invited attendees to donate gently used or new coats, hats, gloves/mittens, books, board games, and puzzles to for kids in need.
• The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ brought together 370 adults and children and 48 community partners, including schools, synagogues, and Jewish organizations, on #GivingTuesday to braid and bake 800 challahs — loaves of bread consumed on the Jewish Sabbath — for local residents in need.
• No Kid Hungry, Tyson Foods, and Hickory Farms worked together to provide 1 Million meals to those in need.
• Community Missions in Niagara Falls, NY recruited high-school teens to help decorate trees and serve meals at local soup kitchens on #GivingTuesday.
• NYC Dads Group, a network of 1,100 fathers in the New York area, sorted and bundled cloths for Baby Buggy, a program that helps families in need nationwide.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding initiatives took on a new level of prominence in the #GivingTuesday movement, combining the power of technology and social networks to empower grassroots fundraising in support of hundreds of organizations. #GivingTuesday crowdfunding initiatives included:
• Indiegogo offered crowdfunding support and education leading up to #GivingTuesday, and raised over $7.5 million for 421 organizations (3 times the amount raised in 2013).
• Crowdrise built a holographic “Giving Tower,” which generated a “brick” for every donation. The Tower grew to 2,224 feet tall, with 14,827 bricks representing more than $1.8 million in donations to-date.
About #GivingTuesday
#GivingTuesday, December 2, 2014, follows the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, kicking off the holiday giving season with a global day dedicated to charitable giving. It combines the power of social media and the generosity of people around the world to bring about real change in their communities. Now in its third year, #GivingTuesday is a worldwide movement that celebrates the power of giving in all its forms. This effort builds on the collective power of a unique blend of partners—charities, families, businesses and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. #GivingTuesday inspires people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they celebrate, and help create a better world. It leverages the power of social media to create a global moment that is dedicated to giving around the world. #GivingTuesday was founded by 92nd Street Y and is spearheaded in tandem with the support of the United Nations Foundation.
A team of recognized experts, influencers and founding partners originally led this effort, including Blackbaud, CECP, charity: water, GlobalGiving, Groupon, Kiva, Microsoft, Pvblic Foundation, (RED), Unilever, United Nations Development Programme and Univision, among many others. The movement includes signature media partner MSNBC, which will help spotlight the innovative ways that people are giving back in their communities and the world.
Website: http://www.givingtuesday.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GivingTues
Anastasia Dellaccio, United Nations Foundation, http://www.givingtuesday.org, +1 (202) 230-8035, [email protected]
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