GivingTuesday Raises $3.6 Billion for Charity, Up From Last Year

In an election year when voters expressed concerns about the economy, some nonprofits worried that donations might be down. But donors gave $3.6 billion on GivingTuesday, a 16 percent increase over last year.

While the economy was on Americans’ minds in pre-GivingTuesday data, that didn’t seem to impact their giving. In a survey in September by Wells Fargo, 51 percent of respondents said “they don’t have enough money to give to charity at all.” Instead of tightening their purse strings, Americans opened them a little bit wider.

The economy isn’t the most important factor driving GivingTuesday results, GivingTuesday CEO Asha Curran told the Chronicle before the final numbers were in. Donors, she said, give when they’re connected to causes. “The main factor in a successful GivingTuesday, a successful end of the year, is on the side of nonprofits,” she said. “If nonprofits activate, we will see more donations on GivingTuesday and through the rest of December. And if they sit it out, then we won’t.”

And it’s clear from the numbers that nonprofits activated this year. “In a world that can feel increasingly divided, we’re seeing people unite through simple acts of kindness that have profound ripple effects,” Curran said in the news release that announced the final giving tallies for the day.

According to GivingTuesday, 36.1 million Americans participated in the day, a 7 percent increase from 2023.

Since its start in 2012, GivingTuesday has become a critical day for charities, often kicking off their year-end giving drives. This year nonprofits appealed to donors hoping to leave the election behind them, joined forces with other charities, and focused on activities that brought the community together.

Accentuate the Positive

At the end of a contentious election year, many nonprofits focused their GivingTuesday pushes on bringing people back together.

“People are weary after the election,” Curran said, noting that several charities she talked to were trying to use GivingTuesday as “a moment for a fractured citizenry to feel like they are coming together around what unifies us rather than what divides us.”

The Center for Human Services in Modesto, Calif., is one of the charities that leaned into the idea of giving donors a chance to coalesce around something positive.

“My personal opinion is people feel inundated right now,” says Shanyn Avila, development manager at the group. “How can we offer a place of respite for people? I always feel better when I’m helping someone. So if we can offer such a way to do that, if we can support people in a gentle way, this is what we want to do.”

The group had a $5,000 goal and wanted to use the day to engage with their donors, sharing the good that the organization does, like the ability to adopt a family and support them during the holidays.

Similarly, Rotary International, a charity that concentrates on seven principles, including promoting peace and fighting disease, focuses on a larger purpose when talking to donors.

“GivingTuesday works really well for Rotary because we have so many of our members who are looking at doing something bigger than themselves and participating in an effort or movement that’s larger than themselves,” says Eric Schmelling, chief philanthropy officer for the organization.

Stronger Ties to Donors

While some organizations focus exclusively on fundraising on GivingTuesday, many nonprofits also aim to engage donors in activities to better connect them to the cause.

Two local organizations in the Washington, D.C., area joined forces to create the Echoes of Giving campaign to raise money for World Central Kitchen on GivingTuesday. The plan had two components: a fitness class locals could attend in the morning with a donation and an evening gala where people could get together and learn about the charity and other local nonprofits.

Fitness influencer Christie Horan hosted the class and promoted it heavily on social media before the event. “I wanted of be a part of this event,” Horan says, noting that people who couldn’t attend the in-person class got access to an online class.

The American Red Cross was stumping for donations of a different kind on GivingTuesday. While the organization still wanted traditional monetary donations, the group also wanted blood. The Red Cross partnered with Warner Bros, which is celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the TV show Friends, to encourage supporters to donate blood with their friends. Participants got two pairs of specially made Red Cross and Friends branded socks.

“The idea is that you would keep one for yourself as a blood donor and you would give one to your friend and invite them to donate blood,” says Darren Irby, national executive director of the American Red Cross.

The campaign kicked off November 18, and in the first week, people booked an average of 26,000 appointments to donate blood each day, up from the normal 20,000. People who give blood receive a thank-you note, like donors who give money. They also get follow-up information showing the impact of their gift. Folks who download the Red Cross blood donor app “receive a message when your blood is actually distributed to a local hospital,” Irby says. “The idea is that your blood [gift] is just like your financial gift. You know it has been used for patients in need at a hospital.”

Strategies that get friends to come together, like the Red Cross campaign, are great for GivingTuesday, says Lori Poer, director of the Blackbaud Institute, the software company’s research arm.

“We find that people are more likely to donate when asked by someone they know, not just the organization,” Poer says. “This is especially true of spontaneous donors who may be choosing to give to an organization for the first time on GivingTuesday.”

Courtesy of Christie Horan

Matthew Gayer is executive director of Spur Local, an organization aimed at helping people connect with local nonprofits. Spur Local uses the day to encourage younger generations to give. “We run something called the Next Gen Giving Circle here locally — about 100 young professionals in their 20s to 40s who all collectively give across the year,” he says. “So we’re activating that network specifically for GivingTuesday for them and their friends to adopt a nonprofit that they give to, even if they don’t know them well.”

Some nonprofits turned to social media to engage younger donors. Social media really hits with the younger crowd, says Stacy Ellington, development manager at Save a Pet in Grayslake, Ill.

“We do have some older donors that prefer the actual written pieces or that are responding to the Constant Contact,” Ellington says. “Everybody younger, it’s purely Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all the social media outlets.”

The pet rescue began campaigning well before GivingTuesday to let people know they could give early. Save a Pet got a local celebrity to do social posts for the group, and the organization is showing videos of the animals that would be in harm’s way without their donations.

“Without any government funding, we need these funds to keep our doors open until we can feed our animals so we can provide a safe environment for them to live in,” Ellington says. “Because we are a true no-kill shelter, we have the unadoptable ones. We have the ones that need surgery. We have the ones that are abused and neglected. We’re their voice, their home to feed them.”

Their goal was to raise $45,000. In addition to starting early, Ellington has been reaching out to donors before the day and asking them to consider giving again.

Start of the Giving Season

GivingTuesday serves as the kickoff for many organizations’ year-end fundraising campaigns and sets the tone for what’s to come. That’s the case for Rotary International.

“We really use GivingTuesday as the kickoff to our year-end giving calendar of communications,” Schmelling says. “This is just the first kind of step with larger efforts for calendar year-end giving.”

The Native Forward Scholars Fund spends a lot of time reaching out to constituents this time of year, says Angelique Albert, the group’s CEO. The group had a lot of outreach with donors in November for Native American Heritage Month, Albert says. “Then we hit it very hard for GivingTuesday and year end.”

Native Forward helps Native American students get a college education, including advanced degrees. Fundraisers are talking to supporters about how important the organization’s work is, especially in the face of rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at colleges and universities. It has meant students need more support than in the past. That message has inspired donors to give, Albert says.

“That’s been probably the most successful for us in our fundraising, is reaching out to people who are allies in that and care about those things,” she says. “So that’s where we’re going to continue to focus our energy.”

The organization didn’t set a GivingTuesday dollar goal this year but hoped to engage with supporters so they can count on their gifts throughout the year. “Mostly we just want to connect with as many people as possible,” Albert says. “Whether that’s through the financial giving or partnerships where we get to know people, people are more aware of us.”

For Curran, that’s a key concept for GivingTuesday. She notes that connection and engagement keep people coming back and giving when they can.

“Remember that someone who can’t give money now might be able to give money at some later period,” Curran says. “So engaging someone now is never wasted time.”