#GivingTuesdaySA enables South Africans to give back locally as part of a global movement
Submitted by: Maria Oosthuizen
On 1 December 2020, South Africans from all quarters will come out to support #GivingTuesdaySA (https://www.givengain.com/t/givingtuesday/), a global day of giving and worldwide celebration of charitable causes.
The global Giving Tuesday movement is a platform bringing people from around the world together, to donate money as well as their time and voice to worthy causes of their choosing. Taking place on the Tuesday following Black Friday and Cyber Monday – two of the biggest days for online consumer spending – it encourages the public to divert some of their time and money to those who need it most.
The great news, says homegrown global online giving platform GivenGain, is that there are tons of great South African causes to support in whichever way you choose.
“Every year this global day of giving attracts support from some of the biggest brands, organisations and celebrities to spread the ‘live here, give here’ message across their social networks”, says Jannie Smith, regional manager in sub-Saharan Africa & global head of support for GivenGain.
Smith says in 2019, donors raised an estimated $511 million globally in online donations alone.
Record-breaking support
Through GivenGain’s international fundraising platform, charities received 300% more in donations on Giving Tuesday than the average day during 2019.
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (https://www.ewt.org.za/) was one of the local charities in South Africa that decided to hold a 24-hour fundraising sprint for Giving Tuesday, instead of running a lengthier campaign. As a result, they raised R24,000 for wildlife conservation in just the one day.
Similarly, Thembalitsha USA (https://www.hope.org.za/) ran a Giving Tuesday campaign to support its vital work in providing health, education and training services to those who need it most in South Africa. The charity set a simple but clear goal – to beat the previous year’s fundraising by more than 50%. This target was quickly surpassed after raising over $5,000 through a donation matching pledge.
Content kit for charities
As an official Giving Tuesday partner in South Africa, GivenGain has put together a range of fundraising resources to help charities all over the country and beyond gain support for their work. The resources include online guides and toolkits which cover everything from compelling case studies and fundraising ideas, to the best ways to garner support from large corporates.
This free and downloadable fundraising pack offers essential advice for charities, companies, clubs and individuals planning their #GivingTuesdaySA campaigns, but can also be used to assist fundraising initiatives the whole year round.
Smith continues: “Over the years, our dedicated fundraisers have raised a remarkable amount of money for a range of local causes. We are very proud to support Giving Tuesday and be part of this global generosity movement. It really does unleash the power of people to transform communities in South Africa and much further afield, at a time when many of us are focusing on our holiday and end-of-year giving.”
Charities can download the Giving Tuesday 2020 fundraising pack today at https://join.givengain.com/gt-resources/.
Members of the public can search for their chosen charity and donate online via the GivenGain platform. Visit https://www.givengain.com/e/givingtuesday2020/.
GivenGain
Maria OosthuizenFounded in 2001, GivenGain is a non-profit foundation with offices in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and South Africa. We started with a simple idea: to enable global philanthropy by providing a platform that simplifies global giving and fundraising. Since 2001, the platform has assisted donors and fundraisers in 194 countries to assist charities in 70 countries. The platform enables public events like running and cycling races and their participants to fundraise together for charities of their choice. GivenGain is part of the Humanstate Group, an international private technology services group that combines state-of-the-art Web-based applications with on-demand payment processing. Working from offices in the UK, Switzerland, Canada, the US and South Africa, we are inspired and united by the drive to create great user experiences and delightful digital products. We like complex challenges, we like to do new things, and we like people who are excited by their work. We’re a small team with big responsibilities – the Humanstate Group employs around 150 professionals in 5 countries and processes more than one billion Pounds Sterling annually.
