This article was originally posted on Imagine Canada.
GivingTuesday marks the opening day of the holiday giving season. Occurring annually on the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the movement encourages individuals and organizations to join together and find innovative ways to give back to the charities and nonprofits they support. Tuesday, December 2 serves as a focal point in our collective efforts to make our society stronger and more caring.
A movement comes to Canada
Last year, CanadaHelps and GIV3 brought the GivingTuesday movement to Canada. Based on a powerful and hugely successful movement created in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation in the U.S., the success of the first Canadian GivingTuesday was inspiring and surpassed the expectations of everyone involved. More than 1,300 Canadian charities and businesses came together in a collective, grassroots effort to launch engaging campaigns that promoted giving back. Through collaborative efforts #GivingTuesdayCA trended in second place on Twitter and engaged millions of Canadians. National and local media covered the event and donations through CanadaHelps soared with a 169% increase (225% increase for charities that actively participated). The results clearly demonstrated that Canadians want to make giving part of their lives and were excited to have an opportunity to participate.
Join the Movement: Become a Partner
Canadians are still learning about GivingTuesday as and many will participate in it for the first time. Expect that your organization may attract new donors and start thinking about ways to keep them continuously engaged, turning these new donors into loyal supporters of your cause.
As a charity, it is easy to get involved and join the GivingTuesday movement. You can start by becoming an official GivingTuesday partner. It’s absolutely free and only takes a few minutes!
Advantages for your Charity
As an official GivingTuesday Partner your charity’s logo, website link, and GivingTuesday initiative will appear on the GivingTuesday website where thousands of Canadians will visit to learn more and donate to participating charities. You will also have access to a ready-to-go GivingTuesday-themed Custom Donation Page. Leverage your custom donation page simply by sharing its URL with your donors and supporters.
For charities registered with CanadaHelps, you can create a special GivingTuesday campaign (that can last one day or the rest of the year).
How your organization can participate
There are numerous ways your charity can participate in GivingTuesday Canada. You’ll find many ideas and case studies from 2013 at www.GivingTuesday.ca. Whether you develop a campaign to grow awareness of your charity and its charitable mission, raise funds for a specific project, work to recruit new volunteers, or simply use it as an opportunity to say thank you to your supporters, be sure to join the conversation. Gain visibility for your charity and amplify the movement by using #GivingTuesdayCA hashtag in your social communications.
Become a Giving Tuesday partner and get started today! This is an opportunity for your organization to be part of a collective effort to increase giving in Canada. Join us December 2 and we’ll kick-start giving this holiday season together!
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