Hello, I am Teresa Holman, a student at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB). I am a senior working as an NPC intern through my field training program in Collaborative Health and Human Services. Thank you for viewing or tuning into my podcast Nonprofit Café and together we are turning passion into action.
What Exactly is Giving Tuesday?
If you are anything like me and you are new to the nonprofit industry, you are probably wondering “What exactly is #GivingTuesday?” This is a great question; please allow me to share my newfound information from the article No, Your Company Doesn’t Need a “Disruptor.” Try This Instead.
#GivingTuesday is the contrast of #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday. “#GivingTuesday” is a celebration of philanthropy and compassion. Therefore, on the second Tuesday after Thanksgiving, everyone is encouraged to find a way to give, and this has become a universal trend. It is suggested that Giving Tuesday not be franchised or governed by a certain entity, rather the service should be turned into whatever it needs to become. The most popular Giving Tuesday ideas or called “New Power” ideas are called “A.C.E. ideas.”
The acronym A.C.E. stands for:
- Actionable -ask people to do something
- Connect – get people to network
- Extensible – the ideas need to be able to grow and change into something else
A good example of an A.C.E. idea is the “#MeToo” movement; it adds one person, then another person joins the movement, and then another person joins the movement, and so on and so on. The phrase “#MeToo” was initially used in the context of a Myspace motion on social media in 2006 by a sexual assault survivor and activist. This mini phrase has empowered sexually assaulted individuals through empathy and solidarity with or by strength in numbers, especially young and vulnerable women, by visibly demonstrating how many have survived sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
So, my fellow lifesavers and changemakers, instead of going out into the world on an early Black Friday morning or getting on your computer all day on Cyber Monday… gather some of your favorite people, get into action, connect with others, and collaboratively do something to make a micro difference in someone’s life, or go make a macro difference in the world. Remember, it doesn’t have to be anything big. Your #GivingTuesday can morph into whatever it needs to become. You can pick up litter in your community, deliver meals to the homeless, volunteer time in a soup kitchen, or even babysit for a new parent who never gets to go out alone.