Chan­ging the World with GivingTuesday

Today, the move­ment has long since broken away from its connec­tion to Black Friday and inspi­res milli­ons of people around the world to work toge­ther and cele­brate gene­ro­sity. Giving­Tu­es­day is about the power of the many little good deeds we do every day. The main idea is to focus on others and not on yours­elf. Whether we offer a friendly smile, a helping hand, a mone­tary dona­tion or an hour of our time, these good deeds have the poten­tial to spread and multi­ply. Even the Bible says: ‘It is more bles­sed to give than to receive.’ Giving­Tu­es­day calls this the power of radi­cal generosity.

The posi­tive effects of GivingTuesday

Since 2016, Giving­Tu­es­day has also taken hold in Switz­er­land – with the follo­wing posi­tive effects:

Promo­tion of chari­ta­ble acti­vi­ties: Giving­Tu­es­day is a great oppor­tu­nity to raise aware­ness of nonpro­fit orga­ni­sa­ti­ons and their work in Switz­er­land. The initia­tive encou­ra­ges indi­vi­du­als, fami­lies, groups, asso­cia­ti­ons, compa­nies and foun­da­ti­ons to actively engage in chari­ta­ble causes and take social responsibility.

Boos­ting soli­da­rity and cohe­sion: Espe­ci­ally in times like today, when we are faced with so many global chal­lenges, it is important to promote soli­da­rity and cohe­sion on a small scale. Giving­Tu­es­day provi­des a plat­form to encou­rage people to support each other and streng­then communities.

Promo­ting inno­va­tion and crea­ti­vity: Giving­Tu­es­day encou­ra­ges people to find new ways to do good. There are so many inno­va­tive and crea­tive minds in our coun­try who have been inspi­red by Giving­Tu­es­day to engage in chari­ta­ble causes and deve­lop inno­va­tive solu­ti­ons to the chal­lenges facing society.

The poten­tial for foundations

The Giving­Tu­es­day move­ment was able to spread around the world partly thanks to support it recei­ved from grant giving foun­da­ti­ons – prima­rily from the US – because they share the same basic idea: the promo­tion of gene­ro­sity. In Switz­er­land, too, there is great poten­tial for foun­da­ti­ons in connec­tion with GivingTuesday.

For opera­ting foun­da­ti­ons, Giving­Tu­es­day is a fanta­stic oppor­tu­nity to plan campaigns for or with corpo­rate part­ners, schools, donors and other groups. For exam­ple, at the last Giving­Tu­es­day in Switz­er­land, one foun­da­tion joined forces with a bakery chain. For every coffee sold on Giving­Tu­es­day, the company dona­ted CHF 0.50 to the foun­da­tion. Howe­ver, Giving­Tu­es­day isn’t just about raising money; opera­ting foun­da­ti­ons can also use the day as an oppor­tu­nity to give some­thing back to its exis­ting support­ers and to thank them perso­nally with a phone call or an open day, for exam­ple. A foun­da­tion could also use Giving­Tu­es­day to publi­cise its volun­tee­ring oppor­tu­ni­ties. In this way, the day can help to build long-term rela­ti­onships with supporters.

Grant giving foun­da­ti­ons can use Giving­Tu­es­day as an oppor­tu­nity to carry out joint campaigns with their funding part­ners to promote volun­tee­ring and gene­ro­sity. For exam­ple, a foun­da­tion might set up a matching fund and double all dona­ti­ons recei­ved for a speci­fic project on GivingTuesday.

Giving­Tu­es­day promo­tes giving and gene­ro­sity in all areas of life. After all, a gene­rous world is a better world!