#GivingTuesdayNow prompted a surge of more than an estimated $500 million in online giving on May 5. The day of giving was launched as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Initial results from Giving Tuesday’s platform partners suggested that more than $503 million in online donations was generated on #GivingTuesdayNow. Many of those partners reported that the day represented a peak within an overall lifted period of online giving, according to Giving Tuesday, the nonprofit behind #GivingTuesday, the annual day of giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving that started in 2012. This year, #GivingTuesday will fall on Dec. 1.
“Our strategy for #GivingTuesdayNow is to measure trends in giving during a global crisis response,” said Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer for Giving Tuesday. “In addition to this preliminary total, we’re working to evaluate generosity over a longer period of time, not just a single day, and to provide critical context for a unique moment in time,” he said.
An in-depth report looking at donor motivations, behaviors and response channels is expected in the coming months. “We hope that this work not only provides insights into this moment but also provides the for-purpose sector with actionable learning for engaging people during a crisis and beyond,” Rosenbaum said.
The GivingTuesday Data Commons, which has more than 150 collaborators and 40 global data labs, is an open and distributed network of partners across sectors and borders.
#GivingTuesdayNow came together some six weeks before the event as need became more evident after statewide shutdowns as part of an effort to slow the growth of the pandemic.
Account holders at Fidelity Charitable quickly granted more than $100 million in the weeks after pandemic was declared. Fidelity Charitable then issued a challenge to reach $200 million in grants by #GivingTuesdayNow, which was surpassed, with more than $301 million in donor-recommended grants.
Giving in response to the COVID-19 pandemic reached $10 billion the week of #GivingTuesdayNow, according to Candid’s COVID-19 tracker.
