National Day of Giving
Prioritize giving over consumerism and help those less fortunate by fundraising for a cause close to your heart or volunteering in your community.
National Day of Giving takes place on Tuesday directly after American Thanksgiving, which in turn takes place on the 4th Thursday of November. National Day of Giving was created to help the “giving season” get started, reminding people that there is more to holidays than consumerism and commercialization.
History of National Day of Giving
National Day of Giving was created when two organizations, the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation came together in 2012, about a month before that year’s Thanksgiving. Their intention was to set aside a day that was all about celebrating the generosity of giving, a great American tradition.
Many
National Day of Giving is organized and celebrated each year with the simple aim of encouraging individuals, families, schools, businesses, and other organizations to give to the less fortunate. A year later, in 2013, even
National Day of Giving has been praised by many, including the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a newspaper that covers the nonprofit world, as an antidote to consumer culture and a way for people to give back.
How to Celebrate National Day of Giving
There is no shortage of ways in which this can be done. In recent years ideas have included organizing fundraisers, with the intention of giving the proceeds to a charity. As there are many ways to give in order to help others, and many things that can be given besides just money, there have been numerous other schemes.
Among these are blood drives to give some assistance to local hospitals, volunteer fairs at which individuals can pledge to give time to community projects, and families giving food from their home to local pantries. The hashtag #GivingTuesday was also created to raise awareness about the needy and encourage people to give to charities.
If you like, you can join National Day of Giving’s team of Social Media Ambassadors, who are dedicated to spreading the word about #GivingTuesday and taking collaborative action to give back. At the end of the day, the truth is that there are thousands of charity organization the world over, many of which are likely located somewhere near you.
Every single one of them could use your help, so find a cause that is especially important to you personally, whether it’s fighting a certain type of cancer, helping to buy schoolbooks for children from very poor families, or helping the animals at your local animal shelter, and take action! However you choose to celebrate the day, you can then share your story with National Day of Giving’s official website to spread the word to the entire world.
