The organisers of #GivingTuesday, a campaign to promote charitable giving, have today embarked on a tour of cities around the UK to encourage people, charities and businesses to give their support.
Launched in the US in 2012, #GivingTuesday was created as a chance for people to ‘give back’ as it falls after the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two big shopping days after Thanksgiving.
The campaign is being run in the UK by the Charities Aid Foundation and fundraising software company Blackbaud with charity partners including the RSPCA, Cancer Research UK and the RNIB.
Last year the campaign spread to Canada, Mexico, Israel, Australia, Singapore and Latin American and led to a “huge spike in donations” according to the organisers, which UK causes are now hoping to benefit from.
The two biggest US giving platforms reported increases in the proportion of donations made between Giving Tuesday in 2012 and 2013. Blackbaud said donations to its US site were up 90 per cent and Donor Perfect said giving was up 46 per cent. The average online gift increased from $101 in 2012 to $142 last year.
#GivingTuesday is supported by 10,000 charity and corporate partners worldwide.
This year it is taking place on 2 December when people will be encouraged to give by making donations or volunteering for charitable causes.
#GivingTuesday UK is being supported by companies including Homebase, Argos, Mindshare, Thomson Reuters and Glamour magazine.
Other charities already involved include Lepra, Alder Hey Children’s Charity, Concern Worldwide, Beat Bullying and UK Community Foundations.
Overall, 120 charities and businesses are signed up to support the campaign.
The UK-wide tour is starting in Nottingham today before moving to Cardiff, Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Belfast.
John Low, chief executive of CAF, said: “We’re taking the campaign on the road to grow our partner base and make sure we whip up excitement and build support in every single county.
“In the US we’ve seen some cities really take the campaign up for themselves – Baltimore alone raising millions of dollars – and we hope to inspire the same spirit of competition among cities over here.
“#GivingTuesday is an opportunity to get people thinking and engaging with charities and their local communities – not just on the day itself, but for years to come.”
