These shopping days mark the commencement of the holidays and are incorporated into many family’s traditions. Sisters search isles at big box stores for deep discounts, fathers and sons camp out at electronic stores, mothers and daughters stroll downtown streets searching for locally made gifts while some shop from the comfort of their couch. Now I’m a girl who loves to shop and who can pass up a good sale, but shouldn’t the giving season begin with giving?
Giving Tuesday is a “global day of giving” which began in 2012 and has grown throughout the years with the help of social media. Giving Tuesday brings attention to charities and nonprofits by encouraging people to spend the Tuesday after Thanksgiving donating time, money, goods or a voice to support organizations that support others.
To learn more about Giving Tuesday and how to get involved visit https://www.givingtuesday.org/
Ways to Give
Whether you give $1.00 or $10,000 every dollar counts! Charities and nonprofits use these dollars to further their mission and continue to serve the community. Your dollars can help a veteran land a job, a child receive a warm coat, or go towards research to cure cancer. Your donation has the power to change lives.
Time
Volunteering is more rewarded than any other charitable giving. When you volunteer you see firsthand the impact made in the grateful faces of those you are helping. Volunteer as a family, it is a wonderful way to bond, creating life-long memories and serves as a humbling reminder of life’s blessings. Searching for volunteer opportunities? Check out Taproot Foundation which matches volunteers with nonprofit organizations https://taprootfoundation.org/ or reach out to your local nonprofits to discover how you can use your talents to help others.
Goods
Our family cleans out the pantry before Thanksgiving to donate to our local food bank, we pack up slightly used toys and clothes to give to the women’s’ shelter and “adopt” a child for the holidays from the Angel Tree. These are all ways to give goods during the season of giving and especially on Giving Tuesday.
Voice
Get the word out, do you have hundreds of followers on social media? Share the news about Giving Tuesday with them, use your voice to bring awareness to a charity important to you and encourage others to do the same. Instead of challenging your friends to dance-offs, challenge them to give during Giving Tuesday! Take an #unselfie, a photo of you participating in Giving Tuesday then share it on social media!
"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."
-Winston S. Churchill
Wise Giving

https://www.give.org/assets/wga/wise-giving-guides/fall-2018-guide-article.pdf
https://www.givingtuesday.org/great-giving
This holiday season consider participating in Giving Tuesday, you will be rewarded with happiness and joy! Start a new holiday tradition this year, give your time, donate money or goods, and lend your voice to Giving Tuesday.
Written by: Amanda Marksmeier