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With Giving Tuesday 2022 fast approaching, you may be feeling pressure on your plans to give to your favorite cause. The threats of inflation and recession have left many Americans wondering how they could donate to charitable causes if the money is not in the cards this year.
There are many ways to give without spending a penny. And the time, skills, and actions you provide can impact where a single cash donation might not, and can even help. get tax relief.
When is Donation Tuesday 2022?
Prepare for generosity: Giving Tuesday 2022 is November 29.
4 Free Ways to Give on Giving Tuesday 2022
1. Donate your time
A Constant Contact study found that 44% of Americans plan to donate or volunteer during the holiday season. Your hands might be what your favorite organization needs the most.
“What we need almost as much as money is people,” says Abby Smith, executive director of Felines & Canidae, an animal rescue organization based in Chicago and Huntsville, Alabama. Smith says his organization relies on volunteers to continue its daily rescue operations, whether it’s doing laundry, cleaning kennels or performing other small tasks that help thousands each year. of animals to find their forever home.
Volunteering can take many different forms and in some cases you may not even have to leave your home.
See if any of the following opportunities pique your interest:
Crowns Across America
Crowns Across America is a national organization that places wreaths for buried veterans and relies heavily on volunteers to fulfill its mission. Truckers can volunteer to transport weather across the country, while group leaders and site coordinators help local teams coordinate the placement of more than 2.4 million crowns. Or you can work with a local team to place wreaths in over 3,400 locations nationwide on December 17, 2022.
Crisis text line
Support mental health care this year by volunteering with Crisis Text Line, a non-profit organization that provides 24/7 mental health text support and crisis intervention . Sign up to volunteer, and Crisis Text Line will train you online in a 30-hour program. You can take volunteer shifts (usually four hours a week) to minister to people in need, all from your couch.
Friends of Karine
If you’re in the New York area and have a few hands to lend, you can help wrap, wrap, and ship holiday gifts and birthday bags for Friends of Karine. This 45-year-old organization offers comprehensive, free support to families caring for children with life-threatening illnesses and welcomes volunteers of all ages.
2. Host a virtual fundraiser
A virtual fundraiser is the perfect solution if you want to help your favorite charity raise money, but can’t donate yourself. You can start a Facebook fundraiser for almost any organization and your friends, family and network can contribute.
If you’re not on Facebook, there are other creative ways to fundraise.
Second Harvest Food Bank
In 2021, Second Harvest Food Bank distributed over 97 million meals to over 500 partner organizations in Central Florida. And a large portion of the funds came from kind souls who used a virtual food drive to raise funds.
Erika Spence, the organization’s storytelling and communications manager, says the funds raised are used to purchase much-needed items at discounted prices and to support food distribution in the community.
From kennel to sofa
As an organization that strives to improve the lives of at-risk pit bulls in shelters across the country, Kennel to Couch uses virtual events to raise funds and awareness throughout the year. So if you’re a fan of these puppies, affectionately known as “velvet hippos,” contact the Kennel to Couch team to see how you could do sit-ups, crunches, or walk a few miles with your furry friend to score a few unlucky pup bucks.
3. Donate Goods
If you’re in the mood to give this season, you can clean house and do good at the same time.
“A wonderful way to give without giving money is to donate gently used shoes, clothes, accessories, toys and other household items,” says Kim Praniewicz, vice president of marketing and communications at Goodwill Industries of Central Florida. Items donated to Goodwill are resold and the proceeds fund job placement and job training services in your local community.
Your local goodwill is a great place to start. However, you can donate more than the usual bric-a-brac to some specialized organizations.
Clinics can help
If you are in the Palm Beach, Florida area and have medical supplies to donate, Clinics Can Help would like your help. Founded by a former hospice nurse, this organization salvages used and repairable equipment like crutches, wheelchairs, hospital beds and even unopened medical supplies, all of which are essential for those without the insurance or the means to cover the costs. You can drop off donations or arrange pickup for large objects.
Choice of NY
A few pantry items or even an extra coat could go a long way to Choice of NY, a non-profit organization providing benefits, advocacy, and multiple avenues of support for people with mental illness. Their biggest needs this season are winter coats, warm clothes and even lightly worn suits to help their unhoused clients stay warm and those re-entering the workforce looking good.
4. Be a megaphone
Whether you’re a prowler or a big talker on social media, you can use your timeline to help out your favorite charity this Giving Tuesday. By reposting a Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign or sharing an eye-catching infographic, Rick Cohen, COO of the Council of Nonprofits, says you can help an organization gain new, long-term supporters.
“An introduction [to an organization] from someone they know is far more likely to get that person to donate to the nonprofit than any effort the nonprofit can undertake on their own,” says- he.
Here are some ideas for spreading the love via social media this Giving Tuesday:
- Share your favorite nonprofit’s Giving Tuesday campaign and add the hashtag #GivingTuesday.
- Share an infographic or meme created by an organization to raise awareness.
- Follow your favorite organizations and join their supporter groups on Facebook.
While financial donations remain essential for associations, Jeannie Sager, director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, says it’s important to remember that organizations rely on many types of support to achieve their Giving Tuesday goals throughout the year.
“Recognizing the value of these [non-cash] contributions make philanthropy more accessible to everyone,” she says.
What is Giving Tuesday?
Created in 2012, Give Tuesday is a global movement that encourages people to do good for others and their communities. While it’s easy to think of “giving” as giving money, the true spirit of Giving Tuesday is to inspire acts of generosity of all shapes and sizes.
What is the scope of this world donation day? In the United States alone, more than 35 million people participated in Giving Tuesday 2021 events, raising $2.7 billion, a 9% increase from 2020 and a whopping 37% increase from 2019.
However, non-monetary acts of generosity have also increased beyond the 2020 figures, according to the network. Donations of goods such as clothing and food increased by 8%, and volunteering increased by 11%.
