#GivingTuesday fosters Giving not Shopping during Holiday Season

SEATTLE - Dec. 2, 2013 - PRLog -- Giving Tuesday is about encouraging acts of generosity. It is a campaign fostering a national day of giving at the start of the holiday season.

Why have #GivingTueday? Our nation has a two kick-off days for holiday shopping in Black Friday and Cyber Monday. #GivingTuesday provides a day to celebrate our country's great tradition of generosity.

"GivingTuesday focuses on ‘Giving’ rather than shopping,” says Richard Bray, Seattle-area Charitable Giving Advisor at StrategicGivingAdvisor.com

Gaining momentum across our nation and world, #GivingTueday is expanding this year to Europe, Asia and Africa. Tuesday, December 3 is the date for 2013.

Americans really responded to last year’s #GivingTuesday! Online giving jumped dramatically on the inaugural date with the UN Foundation reporting a 53% increase in donations. And Network for Good, a donation processing site for charities, experienced a 113% increase in donation numbers.

Over 2500 groups joined in the first #GivingTuesday. This time more than 8300 partners across all 50 states are participating including businesses, large and small, and faith-based and community charities. The official #GivingTuesday website has a Partner Page where you can check groups participating in your area.

#GivingTuesday isn’t only about encouraging more financial contributions to charity. It’s also promotes volunteerism, whether direct service or advocacy, and having people share their experiences of making a difference.

New York's 92nd Street Y has been the catalyst and incubator for #GivingTuesday and the United Nations Foundation has partnered with them, giving strategic and communications expertise to the effort.

“Everyone can join this movement of caring,” adds Bray. The official site is www.GivingTuesday.org.

Bray also offers his Nov. 27 blog post Top Ten Ways to be a Strategic Giver to Charity this Holiday Season at www.StrategicGivingAdvisor.com. “Pick one or more ways to make a difference and celebrate #GivingTuesday!”

About Richard Bray

Richard Bray is a Seattle-area strategic giving advisor who assists individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations with strategic giving and philanthropy. His blog at www.StategicGivingAdvisor.com shares advice on charitable giving and fundraising, emphasizing sharing your values and impacting our world.

He is a member of the Seattle Philanthropic Advisors Network. “My vision is that every person in our world is equipped to be a strategic giver.” Richard can be reached at StrategicGivingAdvisor.com.