#GivingTuesday is already here! The previous week has been hectic due to the Thanksgiving holiday that is filled with shopping spree activities — Black Friday and Cyber Monday followed Thursday's major sales' event so people ended up shopping non-stop over the weekend. But this Tuesday, it's giving back time.
#GivingTuesday is an event that aims to give back through charitable activities. Many organizations, businesses, and individuals join this good deed to help others. This cause was first launched in 2012 by YMCA New York and supported by United Nation Foundation.
For charities and groups that work on helping others, this celebration of generosity is one of the biggest fund-raising events each year. The campaign successfully drives in hoards of donors and money keeps flowing in as people want to share their blessings.
In 2014, about 35,000 participated in the drive. This number is bigger compared to previous years. Charity foundations, major companies, celebrities and ordinary civic groups went hand in hand to raise funds for a good cause. Since then, this charitable event expanded to New Zealand, Singapore and Kenya.
Likewise, after availing all of those super deals and spending money on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, now is the time to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. This is also the right moment to lift your Christmas holiday spirit up.
But more than just giving gifts or financial help, you can instead share a piece of yourself through your time. Not all of us have enough money to share but most have time so if you are strapped with cash and still would like to help in your own way, here are cool things that you can do to give back this #GivingTuesday!
1. Volunteer your time
If you have certain skills that will be beneficial for others, you can look for a cause where your skills would be of use. You can also offer your services for free, like if you are a doctor, find medical missions that you can volunteer in.
2. Have an early spring cleaning day
Christmas time is one of those best days to clean your home. And while you do this, for sure you will find a lot of nice items that you can rid of to donate. Even some of the food items that lay in your pantry is most welcome in some foundations.
3. Get your neighbor to donate
You can organize a small event where your neighbors can donate goods. But if this would be too much work, you can simply encourage them to share extra clothes, food, blankets, and more. Gather them and deliver to your community charity.
4. Promote through Social Media
Social media is a strong channel to get news out there. It can help spread news by thousand fold in an instant so you can use it to spread the word about #GivingTuesday and giving back by donating. A simple re-tweet of charity foundation's announcement can do a lot in getting more support.
#GivingTuesday was created to encourage giving back. It connects people around the world as they become one in celebrating the act of giving.
