Media

10 Ways You Can Take Action for # GivingTuesday

  • Zoe Fox
  • November 27, 2012
  • Mashable

# GivingTuesday is finally here, your chance to channel the charitable spirit of the holidays after a delicious Thanksgiving meal, Black Friday at the mall and Cyber Monday snagging online deals.
Mashable is thrilled to be one of the founding partners of # GivingTuesday, and will be launching a partnership with non-profit Youth Communications, through which we’ll be lending our digital expertise to teens in New York City.

If you just heard about # GivingTuesday, and are looking for ways you can get involved, we’ve rounded up 10 things you can do today.

However you chose to celebrate # GivingTuesday, let us know! Tweet pictures with the hashtag # GivingTuesday and we’ll spotlight your actions in a post at the end of the day.

1. Join the Thunderclap

For Mashable , one of the most important parts of # GivingTuesday is the day’s potential social media impact.# GivingTuesday has been trending around the U.S. on Twitter since Monday, but it’s biggest punch is yet to be dealt.

At 2 p.m. EST, a social media Thunderclap will go out on Twitter and Facebook. You can donate and customize your status to join the big social bang that will come this afternoon.

2. Buy Gifts No matter how efficiently you trolled sales and clipped coupons, there’s no way all of your holiday shopping is complete after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The International Rescue Committee has released a line of Rescue Gifts that have the power to save lives.

Each of the symbolic gifts, such as teaching supplies and clean water, represents on of the IRC’s humanitarian programs around the world. Each of the 30 gifts come with a personalized print or e-card, which will be delivered to the recipient.

Looking for a gift for a techie? You can give a solar flashlight kit that helps keep women safe in crisis zones or a GPS device to help people find non-contaminated water supplies.

3. Write Words of Hope If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to really make a difference in someone’s day, you can write a letter to one of Just Detention Internationals clients. The Los Angeles-based human rights non-profit is launching Words of Hope, its holiday card campaign on # GivingTuesday.

Rather than seeking donations, Just Detention International would love for you to write a letter directly to the survivors of prison rape it works to help. According to the non-profit, one survivor, who received a card last year said, “I can honestly say that, because of you, I haven’t killed myself or given up. You have been there for me in my darkest moments.”

4. Tell Cisco How You’re Giving on Facebook You can make your action reach further, when you tell Cisco on Facebook how you’re giving for # GivingTuesday.

For each answer Cisco receives, it will donate four meals toward the World Food Programme.

5. Tweet @ aldo_shoes How You’re Celebrating Aldo Shoes is running a donation-match Twitter campaign, inviting you to tweet what you’re giving to your community to celebrate # GivingTuesday. Each tweet @ aldo_shoes with the hashtag # GivingTuesday will be matched with a $5 donation.

The shoe brand will also have donation boxes set up in its New York City stores. All proceeds from both campaigns will go toward the American Red Cross.

6. Like Poppin on Facebook How often do you like new pages on Facebook? Pretty often, we’d imagine. On # GivingTuesday, one of those likes could help bring school supplies to children in the developing world.

For every new like that Poppin office supplies gets on its Facebook page, it will donate $1 toward non-profit Pencils of Promise. That was easy, huh?

7. Donate to Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project If you’re looking for a great cause to donate to before the end of the year, # GivingTuesday’s a great day to do so.

One worthy cause to check out is the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project. The Center for Living Peace is matching all donations made on # GivingTuesday to the non-profit, which works to keep African youth safe from HIV and AIDS, so your buck will have twice the bang.

8. Retweet the Honest Company What’s easier than sending a tweet? Manually retweeting a tweet.

If you retweet The Honest Company’s # GivingTuesday tweet, it will donate a package of diapers toward its non-profit partner Baby2Baby. The non-profit works to bring essential supplies, including diapers, to families in need.
9. Repin Sony on Pinterest You’re hanging out on Pinterest already, and now your repinning can do some good.

For every repin Sony Electronics receives on Pinterest between # GivingTuesday and the end of the year, it will donate $1 to the Michael Phelps Foundation toward the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

The electronics company will give up to $25,000 as part of its Love to Give program. It’s time to get pinning!


10. Clean Your Closet
We all have clothes sitting in our closet that we never wear anymore. Give them to someone who’d use them more than you do this # GivingTuesday.

Dress for Success is running a campaign called # GivingShoesDay for # GivingTuesday, during which it asks women to donate their professional shoes to ones of the non-profit’s affiliate stores around the country.

In addition to knowing that you’ve helped someone in need, there’s something in it for you, too. If you’re one of the top five shoe donors, Naturalizer.com will give you a free pair in exchange!

Original post:http://mashable.com/2012/11/27/join-giving-tuesday/