With GivingTuesday behind us for another year, it’s safe to say 2016 was another impactful year kick-starting the holiday giving season for Canadians across the country. Globally, GivingTuesday was celebrated in 98 countries around the world, the movement gained 2.5 million social media engagements online, and endorsements from The White House, Bill Gates, Pink, Gillian Anderson, Jonathan Toews, Michael J. Fox, and Margaret Atwood backed the movement among countless others.
In Canada, the day was celebrated by more than 5,700 partners, while Canadians flocked online to spread the word. #GivingTuesday, #GivingTuesdayCA, and #MardiJeDonne earned over 200,000 social media mentions and trended throughout the day on November 29th. In Canada, media embraced GivingTuesday with national and local print, online and broadcast channels covering the story and generating over 322 million media impressions. But more importantly, countless stories of giving and generosity from this year’s GivingTuesday are a signal to it’s impact, and nothing truly showcases the growth of the movement more than it’s numbers.
GivingTuesday By The Numbers:
At CanadaHelps, GivingTuesday continued to see growth in numbers. Since GivingTuesday was officially brought to Canada in 2013, CanadaHelps has seen a total growth of 353% growth in donations on GivingTuesday. Plus, CanadaHelps continued to see more people commit to their cause of choice for the long term. Since GivingTuesday made it’s way to Canada four years ago, 332% of Canadians set up a monthly donation plan on GivingTuesday to keep giving year-round. When measuring the GivingTuesday Canadian movement, we have also seen a 422% increase in the number of new donors on GivingTuesday since we started way back when in 2012.
In 2016, CanadaHelps saw:
- 8 times more new donors on GivingTuesday than on the average giving day in 2016 pre-GivingTuesday.
- 7 times more dollars donated and 10 time more donations on GivingTuesday than on the average giving day in 2016 pre-GivingTuesday.
- 105% increase in the number of donations made by a visitor coming from a social network this GT vs last.
- 26% of those that give on GivingTuesday were millennials or younger
Plus, year after year, we also see that charities that actively participate in GivingTuesday benefit the most! For participating charities, results on GivingTuesday versus the same day in 2012, saw a 1719% increase in dollars donated.
Civic Movements Leading the Way!
With 30 cities embarking on organized civic movements from coast to coast, civic movements inspired charitable giving at a grassroots level involving schools, businesses, charities, and average, everyday Canadians.
To celebrate mayors, from across the country including Toronto Mayor John Tory, and Calgary’s Mayor Naheed Nenshi, to Vancouver’s Mayor Gregor Robertson, proclaimed November 29th as GivingTuesday in their jurisdictions. Within each community, acts of kindness and giving were performed, including:
- 8,479 Canadians received a $3 CanadaHelps Charity Gift Card
- 4,479 Canadians took the quiz to test their charitable knowledge
- 1,371 hugs for charity in Halifax
- 300 bowls of soup for low income Vancouverites
- 73 blood + 5 organ donation registrations in Waterloo
- 60 toys for a children’s hospital in Winnipeg
- 16 sacks of bunny, hen and cat food donated in Okanagan
- 362 sight-restoring surgeries in Calgary
- 500 meals for Montreal’s homeless
Businesses Engaged
Canadian businesses embraced GivingTuesday for a four year by creatively jumping on board the grassroots giving movement. This year saw participation from large corporations like Tim Hortons, PWC, Telus, Boston Pizza, Deloitte, Sobeys, BMO, Sears, PayPal and Interac.
This Is Only The Start
GivingTuesday was a strong start to the holiday giving season, but it has only just begun! Many campaigns have launched on November 29th and run for the rest of the month, so let’s keep on giving Canada!
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