Giving more than thanks

Before the Christmas tree is decorated and wrapping paper is purchased, a holiday that resembles the best traits of humanity is celebrated by those people who care about humanity…Giving Tuesday. This nationwide fundraising campaign truly represents the season of giving, yet is overshadowed by its traditional counterparts of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

“I think donating to a nonprofit is something many people already consider doing during the holiday season, so the message is well-timed,” Director of Communications for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of San Diego Christine Reed said. “Giving to a favorite organization is a great way to spread the holiday spirit.”

The sixth annual Giving Tuesday, which celebrates philanthropy and giving through charitable acts on a global scale, begins today as charities promote the funding of their causes along with providing people an opportunity to donate to those causes.

“Giving Tuesday is an important kickoff to the giving season,” Founder/CEO of Global Genes Nicole Boice said. “It helps us raise much needed funds that support rare disease patient organizations and the programs that they desperately need funding for.”

Companies such as Facebook and CrowdRise, which participate in the fundraising effort, strengthen Giving Tuesday’s emphasis by holding contests for charities and by matching pledged donations. Through Facebook’s “Charitable Giving Tools,” the Gates Foundation and Facebook are contributing $1 million each for a campaign that matches donations up to $50,000 for all participating nonprofits.

“When Henry Timms started Giving Tuesday in 2012, he hoped it would make a difference and change the world,” Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a Facebook post. “Over the past 5 years, it’s done just that.”

According to Ari Shapiro of National Public Radio, Giving Tuesday raised $168 million last year, representing a 44 percent increase from the previous year. The popularity and participation in the day of giving is only going to increase, according to Mrs. Reed.

“I definitely think [participation] will [increase] because the younger generation seems to be charitably minded,” Mrs. Reed said. “I believe more and more nonprofits share the Giving Tuesday message each year.”

The growing prominence of Giving Tuesday coincides with an increase in charitable giving and the better virtues people exhibit. Among high schoolers at Cathedral Catholic High School, Giving Tuesday is not significantly known.

“I definitely have heard of Giving Tuesday, but I am not overly informed of what it exactly is,” CCHS student George Mulder ‘20 said. “I am curious to know what it is because it sounds like something I want to be a part of.”

Not to be outdone, CCHS spearheads its own fundraiser on Giving Tuesday called Giving Dons Day, a one-day campaign designed to raise money to benefit every CCHS student by enhancing the school’s academic, athletic, artistic, and spiritual programs, according to Director of Marketing and Communications Anne Majer.

“We obviously come from a community of giving so it is important to us to not only give back to our school, but also to teach our kids to give back,” Mrs. Majer said. “As [CCHS teacher Mr. Tom Rickling] said, ‘Don’t just give back, give.’ ”

Although the final amount raised on Dons Giving Day was not available at press time, the school did receive a $10,000 matching gift, Mrs. Majer said.

Though Giving Tuesday and Giving Dons Day may not be universally known, the campaigns act as the most hopeful day of the year for many charities and CCHS due to them being a catalyst for donation efforts.

The aspirations of Giving Tuesday creator Mr. Timms seems met with flying colors, and Giving Tuesday seems likely to continue to excite.

“ ‘The secret sauce of Giving Tuesday has been community,’ Mr. Timms once said,” Mrs. Sandberg said. “Henry’s right. There’s nothing more incredible than a community working together for good.”