Unless you have been living under a rock or in a cloistered monastery for the past 10 years, I’m sure you have heard of GivingTuesday. It was created in 2012 as a simple idea…create a day that encourages people to do good. It is always the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which means it follows very closely on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber-Monday. It was born and incubated at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City. Today GivingTuesday is an independent nonprofit organization with global reach. And the impact is pretty staggering! GivingTuesday 2024 generated $3.6B in donations. That was the most ever and represented an increase of 16% compared to 2023. 36.1M people participated last year and 18.5M people made financial contributions. Both of those numbers were record highs for this movement. And these numbers represent US participation only…there are over 110 countries that have embraced GivingTuesday worldwide.
GivingTuesday 2025 is coming up on December 2. There are many ways for you to get involved. A simple way to get involved is to give a donation to your favorite 501(c)3 charity. We are blessed with many wonderful and impactful organizations here in Carlsbad and North County. If you are looking for a reputable charity to support I would encourage to utilize two resources:
(1) The Carlsbad Chamber’s online database: www.carlsbad.org then click “Business Directory” (you can type in the word “nonprofit” and see all that pop up); and/or (2) The Carlsbad Chamber’s eNewsletter on December 1. This particular issue of the Newsletter will list all our nonprofit members for you in one convenient spot so can research and learn about any and all that sound interesting to you. If you do not receive our eNewsletter on a regular basis in your email inbox, go to www.carlsbad.org and click “Join Our Newsletter” in the upper righthand corner.
While all charitable nonprofit organizations need help with funding, there are other ways to create impact on GivingTuesday. You can donate your time, your talents, and/or your physical resources. GivingTuesday itself is supported by many large national foundations. Their website, www.givingtuesday.org, is a great resource for charities wishing to maximize their opportunities to promote themselves for donations. However, their site is also useful for individuals wishing to make a difference in their local community.
In my seven years working here in Carlsbad I have seen what a generous community this is. Let’s see if we can collectively step up our game this year on December 2 and help our local nonprofits to thrive as we turn the page on 2025 and prepare to face whatever comes our way in 2026.