05/08/2020

Daily Buzz: Inspired By COVID-19, #GivingTuesdayNow Draws Global Response

The quickly organized counterpart to #GivingTuesday drew a surge in donations

Most years, #GivingTuesday comes and goes in the days after Thanksgiving. But 2020 isn’t proving to be most years, and the event made a May appearance this week as #GivingTuesdayNow, in an effort to meet the demands created by COVID-19.

While final results have yet to be released, early findings appear promising: GivingTuesday reported activity in 145 countries, and its 90 corporate partners reported a surge in giving. In North Texas, which held a #GivingTuesdayNow event on Tuesday, organizers reported $20.7 million donated to 2,500 local nonprofits and $21.8 million for local coronavirus relief funds.

The interactive tracker on the nonprofit donation platform Classy, meanwhile, reported $10.31 million in donations over the 24-hour period, with much of that going to human services ($3.52 million), health ($1.26 million), and international/foreign affairs ($1.69 million).

The efforts drew a wide variety of creative approaches—largely digital due to the stay-at-home nature of the COVID-19 era—with nonprofits far and wide offering thanks and highlighting their missions, according to Lightful.

In a blog post on its website, GivingTuesday CEO Asha Curran encouraged donors and volunteers to continue this energy in the coming months as the pandemic continues.

“We are in awe of the outpouring of generosity, collaboration, and innovation that came into focus on #GivingTuesdayNow,” Curran said. “This show of unity is a reminder that we are all connected and we are all generous, even when we are uncertain and afraid.”

The organization said its analytics arm, GivingTuesday Data Commons, will publish in-depth research on broader giving trends in the coming weeks.

Please select this link to read the original article from Associations Now.