National Day of Giving
Prioritize giving over consumerism and help those less fortunate by fundraising for a cause close to your heart or volunteering in your community.
Leverage GivingTuesday's massive peer-to-peer fundraising momentum to drive donations, cause-aligned product sales, and brand purpose positioning in the post-Thanksgiving giving season.
- Match every donation with a corporate gift to amplify impact
- Feature customer stories of giving back on GivingTuesday
- Launch limited-edition products where proceeds benefit partner nonprofits
- Host a 24-hour social media giving challenge with influencer ambassadors
Notable campaigns5
- U.S. Soccer (2023): Posted a record-breaking Giving Tuesday announcement thanking supporters and ended with a soft ask: 'It's never too late to give!'
- Lemonade International (2023–2024): Directed donors to their gift catalog on Giving Tuesday, allowing donors to see exactly what their donation funds (e.g., specific items or outcomes) instead of generic donation requests.
- Dressember (2023–2024): Hosted a Facebook Live event on Giving Tuesday to engage their community in real-time, turning supporter attention into impactful donations.
- The People Concern (2023–2024): Built a week-long countdown to Giving Tuesday with a specialty hashtag #5ReasonsToGive, featuring supporter stories to emphasize the importance of the giving day.
- Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) (2023–2024): Created a Giving Tuesday-focused video with an unexpected, engaging message that made viewers laugh—standing out among competitors with authentic, low-cost production.
Campaign ideas7
- Partner with a nonprofit to donate a percentage of sales—create a matching gift threshold to drive urgency and impact awareness
- Launch a multi-week teaser campaign with countdowns, behind-the-scenes impact stories, and sneak peeks of special initiatives
- Host a Facebook Live or Instagram Live event on the day itself; share real-time fundraising updates and thank donors publicly as goals are hit
- Create a gift catalog or tiered giving level system (e.g., '$25 feeds one person,' '$100 provides shelter')—make donations concrete and emotionally resonant
- Run a peer-to-peer fundraising challenge: encourage employees, volunteers, or community members to each raise funds in their personal networks
- Activate a 24-hour text-to-donate campaign with clear instructions, easy mobile checkout, and live progress bar updates
- Build a custom photo/video wall: ask supporters to share why they give, then feature UGC across channels throughout the day
Social angles6
- Impact Story Post: 'Meet [Name]—your donation on National Day of Giving changed their life. See exactly what $50 makes possible.' #GivingTuesday #NationalDayOfGiving
- Urgency/Matching Post: 'Only 6 hours left! Our corporate partner will MATCH every $1 you give—double your impact today. Link in bio.' #GivingDay #DoublingDown
- Community Rally: 'We're 73% of the way to our goal, thanks to [X] generous donors. Will you be donor #[next number]? #JoinTheMovement #GivingTuesday
- Behind-the-Scenes: 'Meet the team that makes it happen. See where your donations go & why [cause] matters. Watch our latest video.' #GivingDay #SeeBeyondTheDonate
- Progress Counter (Real-Time): 'LIVE UPDATE: We just hit $10K in 4 hours! That's [X outcome]. Keep it going—every donation counts!' #LetsGo #GivingDay
- Call-to-Action Reminder: 'It's National Day of Giving! Text [KEYWORD] to [NUMBER] or click [LINK] to give now. Your generosity changes everything.' #GivingTuesday
Ad copy starters5
“Your gift matters. On National Day of Giving, 100% of your donation funds [specific outcome]. Give now.”
“Double Your Impact: We're matching every gift $1-for-$1 today. $25 becomes $50. $100 becomes $200. Give now.”
“Join [X] supporters giving on National Day of Giving. Donate today and see exactly how your gift changes lives.”
“It's not about the size of the gift—it's about the size of your heart. Give whatever you can on National Day of Giving.”
“One day. One mission. One million acts of generosity. Be part of something bigger. Donate today.”
Tips4
- Start promoting at least 2–3 weeks before the day; tease the campaign, build anticipation, and prime your audience emotionally with impact stories.
- Make giving friction-free: mobile-optimized donation pages, one-click giving, multiple payment methods. Test on mobile devices before launch.
- Don't just ask for money—show impact. Use specific numbers, real stories, and visuals of the outcomes donors enable. Donors give to emotion, not statistics.
- Go live multiple times on the day itself (morning launch, mid-day check-in, evening thank-you). Real-time updates and gratitude create urgency and community.
National Day of Giving was started when two organizations, the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation came together in 2012, about a month before Thanksgiving. Their intention was to set aside a day that was all about celebrating the generosity of giving.
Many thought leaders in the areas of social media, philanthropy and grassroots quickly joined in, and together they created a group of founding partners including United Nations Foundation, Cisco, Mashable, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Sony, Aldo, Groupon, UNICEF, Google, Skype, Microsoft and Unilever. The first announcement about National Day of Giving was made through Mashable, a technology website. The inaugural celebration of National Day of Giving was covered extensively by the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, ABC News, Deseret News, and the White House official blog, causing the scheme to gain an enormous amount of popularity in a short period of time.
National Day of Giving is organized and celebrated each year with the simple aim of encouraging individuals, families, schools, businesses, and other organizations to give to the less fortunate. A year later, in 2013, even more organizations joined in, including eBay (which gives a percentage of all its sales proceeds from a week in December to National Day of Giving) and fashion designer Kevin Cole, who both designed and promoted awareness ID bracelets, giving 100% of the proceeds to National Day of Giving.
National Day of Giving has been praised by many, including the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a newspaper that covers the nonprofit world, as an antidote to consumer culture and a way for people to give back.
Organize Fundraisers
Celebrate National Day of Giving by organizing fundraisers with the intention of giving the proceeds to a charity. Host a bake sale, walk/run, craft fair or some other event to get the community connected with giving.
Encourage Community Giving
Among these are blood drives to give some assistance to local hospitals, volunteer fairs at which individuals can pledge to give time to community projects, and families giving food from their home to local pantries.
Become a Social Media Ambassador
Join the National Day of Giving’s team of Social Media Ambassadors, who are dedicated to spreading the word about the event and taking collaborative action to give back. Share online to remind friends and family to start the holiday season off with being generous.
Choose a Favorite Charity
Thousands of non-profit organizations are doing good around the country and all over the world. And every one of them could use some help! Find a cause that is especially important to you personally, whether it’s fighting a certain type of cancer, helping to buy schoolbooks for children from poor families, or helping the animals at the local animal shelter. Then, take action on National Day of Giving!