First, it was Black Friday. Then came Cyber Monday. Then Small Business Saturday became a thing. Holiday shopping events are a marketing team's holy grail, an opportunity to change consumer behavior writ large that doesn't come around very often.

Enter Giving Tuesday, the most recent of the holiday shopping holidays ー though this one is all about altruism. Started in 2012 by the New York nonprofit 92nd Street Y, in partnership with the UN Foundation, the movement has grown to become a de facto response to the consumerism that surrounds the holiday season, in which companies and non-profits urge people to donate money or time to charity ー at least for a day.

According to predictions from the data firm Whole Whale, #GivingTuesday, as it's known online, is expected to top $500 million for the first time, a 25 percent increase from the estimated $400 million that was donated online last year. Still, that haul represents less than 14 percent of the amount of money that will be spent online on Tuesday, according to Adobe Analytics data.

Save the Children, the 100-year-old charity that works to help disadvantaged kids in 120 countries, is among the nonprofits that looks to Giving Tuesday for a portion of its annual fundraising. CEO Carolyn Miles told Cheddar in an interview that millennials still have limited awareness of the day. Save the Children is trying to leverage its relationships with brands and celebrities to spread the word on its social media accounts (and to broadcast that it is matching all donations, 1:1, on Tuesday).

The charity has partnered with red-hot designers like Gabriela Hearst, who is donating 100 percent of the net proceeds from her handbag sales to Save the Children's efforts in Yemen. Those handbags are typically only available by invite, though Hearst is opening the collection to the public this week to spur donations. There are also partnerships with Dave Matthews Band, Jennifer Garner, and the shoe brand Toms.

Many people who give want their donations to help "closer to home," Miles said, noting that Save the Children also works in impoverished communities in the U.S. as well as "all the toughest places to be a child in the world."

The charity counts on the last few weeks of the year for nearly a third of its donations, she said, which is why the awareness around Giving Tuesday is particularly important. Save the Children has an operational budget of $2.2 billion ー equivalent to the entire budget of the newly created U.S. Space Force over the next five years. Last year, it brought in a half-million dollars, the latest in a number that has been "growing every year," though it is still a fraction of the overall budget. The rest comes from corporations, foundations, individual donors and grants from the UN, she said.

Share:
More In Culture
Singer Pip and Vault Change Up How NFTs Are Used to Curate Exclusive Content
Vault, an NFT platform that allows creators to curate their own music and videos via an exclusive invitation, recently teamed up with independent artist Pip for the launch of his new album "Cotton Candy Skies." Nigel Eccles, the CEO of Vault, and singer-songwriter Pip joined Cheddar News to break down how the new platform works and why it's different from other blockchain concepts. "The way we've built it is we use the NFTs as keys that unlock the vault, and it's only the people who have those keys can actually see the contents of the vault," said Eccles. Pip added that he felt "inspired" to help with a new way of doing things in the music industry.
In Entertainment: Harry and Meghan Back in the UK, Cartoon Union & Post Malone
Catching you up on entertainment headlines with Queen Elizabeth II missing the Platinum Jubilee church service after experiencing discomfort during yesterday’s celebration, Harry and Meghan Markle made their first return to Britain after quitting their royal duties, the Animation Guild looking to unionize production and IT workers at popular shows like the "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy," Post Malone dropping his new album “Twelve Carat Toothache’, and more.
Supporting Female Founders in VC; Workplace Resources for LGBTQ+ Community
On this episode of ChedHER: Tiffany Johnson, CEO of Built for Launch, discusses the Black Founders Ecom Pledge that provides tools and resources for Black founders to build, launch, and scale a successful e-commerce business; Alexa von Tobel, Founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital, and Leoni Runge, Founder of Zaya, breaks down the state of maternal care and support for female founders in venture capital; Hannah Schwab, Global Co-Chair of Gender Expansive Council at JPMorgan Chase, explains the goal of the Gender Expansive Council and what kind of resources organizations can offer to support the LGBT+ community.
Supporting Female Founders in VC
Alexa von Tobel, Founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital, and Leoni Runge, Founder of Zaya, join ChedHER to discuss the state of maternal care and support for female founders in venture capital.
From Hibiscus to Ube Cheesecake: Celebrating National Doughnut Day
Today is National Doughnut Day! Cheddar News celebrated with Steven Klein, the owner of Dough Doughnuts in New York City, who joined us with some delicious samples from hibiscus flavored to ube cheesecake. "It's a fun fest that people love doughnuts, and it's a way of celebrating doughnuts that people just want to try, and they want to try with their friends, their offices, their parties, their groups," said Klein. "So we get inundated in all our stores with lines of people coming to buy multiple doughnuts to celebrate the day."
GUN LAWS IN OTHER COUNTRIES
While the United States struggles with mass shootings, other countries have had success with gun regulations - often after their own mass shootings. On this Gun Awareness Day, Cheddar's Shannon LaNier reports on steps some other countries have taken to stop gun violence.
Load More