The #GivingTuesday movement originally launched in the US in 2012. It is intended as an antidote to the start of the festive shopping season, which is kicked off by Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday shopping online. More and more companies are bringing the Black Friday sales and the Cyber Monday online shopping spree to these shores. Shopping's great, but #GivingTuesday is a remedy to the pressures of Christmas spending and gives an opportunity to help the causes we all care about.
In 2015, #GivingTuesday takes place on 1 December after the manic shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
This idea is now spreading across the world. Canada, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, Latin America and Israel all now join in on this day to put a huge, global spotlight on giving. The event took place for the first time in the UK in 2014 with partners including many charities and businesses. The UK campaign is coordinated by The Charities Aid Foundation and Blackbaud. Macc has signed up as one of a number of local partners to promote the campaign in Manchester under the ‘Manchester Gives More’ banner.
Other organisations taking part in Manchester Gives More include:
• Manchester City Council
• the University of Manchester
• Manchester Chambers of Commerce
• Barnabus
• Medequip4kids
• JD Williams
• Northern Quarter
• Big Issue North West
More information about the Manchester Gives More campaign can be found here: www.givingtuesday.org.uk/uk-campaigns.
Some great ideas for ways you can be part of Giving Tuesday
Give a little time
Giving isn’t just about money, everyone had skills and talents which good causes are really keen to make use of!
• Register with Volunteer Centre Manchester and get involved in volunteering with a local group. You’ll meet some amazing people and learn new skills
Give a little money
If you want to give some of the money you’ve saved by getting those pre-Christmas bargains on Black Friday, here are a few ideas:
• Donate to the Spirit of Manchester Fund – in the 2016, we’re going to be giving small grants to local voluntary groups. The more you give, the more good we can create in the city! Click on the Spirit of Manchester logo to go to our online donation page.
• Find a local project to support on the Make Manchester crowdfunding website
• Help people who are homeless and rough sleepers by donating to Manchester Booth Centre, Mustard Tree or other local organisations in Manchester, search on online directory
Give a little push
Even if you don’t have time or money to spare, you can still help by raising awareness, encouraging friends, family and colleagues to get involved in #GivingTuesday. Here are some ideas.
• Find a Manchester voluntary organisation on Twitter or Facebook and give them a retweet or a like – a few clicks could give them valuable extra publicity. To see some great examples, take a look at some of the short films we made about amazing winners and nominee from our recent Spirit of Manchester Awards
• Help raise awareness of World Aids Day also on 1 December
• Support local food banks. Here’s a list of where to find them on Twitter
• Spend your money in a different way: buy Charity Christmas Cards / Calendars / Gifts or use sites which generate donations when you shop online: http://www.give4sure.co.uk/or https://www.giveasyoulive.com/
• Join your local credit union – they’re a much fairer way to help people start saving or get loans than high street lenders and the big banks but they need your help in getting publicity. In Manchester there are two main Credit Unions: Manchester Credit Union and South Manchester Credit Union
• If you work for a private business, ask your employer about what they do to support good causes – take a look at our Business Citizenship page
If you want some other ideas for things you can do, take look at the Random Acts of Kindness website
Ideas for local charities, voluntary and community groups and social enterprises:
• Organise a fundraising event on 1 December – perhaps the start of your Christmas appeal
• Launch a drive for volunteers
• Start a social media campaign or highlight one you’re already running
• sign people up to direct debit or payroll giving
• Announce some good news show what difference you make: maybe a new project, a partnership with a company or secure matched funding
For more help and ideas take a look at our FREE fundraising resources
Ideas for local businesses
• Announce a matched funding scheme with your chosen charity. Our Spirit of Manchester Fund is an ideal way to get donations into local voluntary groups
• Encourage employees to raise funds
• Organise an employee volunteer day
• Create a special product and give a % of the proceeds to your chosen charity.
• Use your social media channels to promote Manchester Gives More and other campaigns like World Aids Day.
Take a look at our Business Citizenship pages to get some ideas about other ways your business can create more social impact