Givelify Community Sets New Record for GivingTuesday 2020

Name any cause on the planet, and it’s very likely that someone was raising money for it on GivingTuesday. Founded less than ten years ago, GivingTuesday is now recognized as THE day when giving is celebrated across the world.

As global totals continue to pour in, it’s safe to assume GivingTuesday 2020, held on December 1, shattered previous records. Every year since 2012, giving and awareness for this day spreads farther and grows larger. Last year, more than $511 million was raised across the U.S.  Worldwide, more than 60 countries celebrated national GivingTuesday movements. This year, at Givelify, we applaud the record-setting generosity and impact within our community of nearly one million donors and more than 45,000 organizations.

Donor Generosity = Best Giving Tuesday Ever

Our goal at Givelify is to empower donors and organizations to do more good in the world. As a proud GivingTuesday partner, we helped places of worship and nonprofits to build and promote their GivingTuesday campaigns. Givelify provided a free toolkit with helpful tips, timelines and templates, along with webinars to help organizations maximize donations on this day of giving!

We’re proud to announce all the preparation for GivingTuesday 2020 paid off, as 18,700 generous donors raised more than $3 million in online giving for nearly 8,000 organizations in just 24 hours through Givelify! That is a significant increase over GivingTuesday 2019, when 2,500 Givelify organizations raised more than $700,000. Generous donors went above and beyond, making this the best GivingTuesday ever, one simple, joyful gift at a time!

Trending Causes Connect Donors to Impact

To celebrate GivingTuesday, Givelify launched a new Trending Causes feature in the app, allowing donors to instantly discover and donate to causes close to their hearts. Trending Causes displays the most popular causes across Givelify in real time. It allows donors to easily identify nearby organizations focused on impactful missions. From community impact to holiday giving or hunger relief, donors can quickly connect with new organizations to make a difference.

Givelify encouraged organizations to create a cause-related envelope highlighting the causes they champion. These giving envelopes allowed organizations to be discovered by a community of people looking to do more good on GivingTuesday. Donors were able to quickly discover causes and make the impact they desired.

“I created an envelope for GivingTuesday and the process was easier than I thought it would be. It was great to do that so people know what our organization does,” said Bongai Mhlovi, CEO and Founder of the American-African Youth Leadership Foundation. Mhlovi’s organization seeks to end child marriages. She said GivingTuesday provided an opportunity to communicate with potential donors about their mission, an important factor for fundraising growth.

More than half of donors identified “belief in the mission” as the primary motivation for their donations in the 2016 U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy. Our nationwide study, from earlier this year, found that nearly one in three donors felt a stronger reason to give because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also discovered organizations that are intentional about championing causes are better at connecting with their generous givers.

Various Missions Benefit From GivingTuesday Boost

This year, due to COVID-19, needs across our nation’s communities are greater than ever before. Hunger relief, support for the homeless, COVID-19 testing, and student scholarships were some of the top Givelify GivingTuesday trends. Time and time again, we see Givelify organizations stepping up to meet these needs.

Victory Grace Center

Back in February, shortly before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Victory Grace Center, located in Landover, MD, started distributing boxes of food to nearly 200 families each week. That effort is still going strong heading into the holidays. Victory Grace Center’s GivingTuesday efforts will help fund their food distribution initiative that shows no signs of slowing down. Currently, they are providing food for up to 1,000 families a week at multiple locations in their community.

“Because of this program, Victory Grace Center is able to SHINE – Sharing Hope In a Negative Experience,” said Dr. Jasmin “Jazz” Sculark, Senior Pastor. “The families in the communities we serve are predominately immigrants, and I am from Trinidad, so I know the value and importance of helping immigrants.”

Bags of Love

Bags of Love provides essential items to the homeless in Greenboro, NC. Hundreds of people depend on monthly bags filled with PPE, sanitary items, snacks and clothing. GivingTuesday donations will ensure these efforts continue during the upcoming winter months.

“This month, we plan to feed 250 individuals, and pass out hats, gloves, hand warmers, and blankets in addition to our regular bag items,” said Joey Graves, Founder and CEO of Bags of Love.

TAGGED Youth

TAGGED Youth provides support for children in foster care in Fredericksburg, VA. For GivingTuesday, the organization promoted its “Stuff-A-Truck” program to provide supplies for college bound students. The organization locates and equips talented foster care youth with life enhancing tools to help them reach their goals.

“I built TAGGED so that we can locate the next generation of doctors, lawyers, artists, teachers, and athletes who are currently buried in a system that doesn’t have the time, staff, or resources to advocate for them. I am their advocate!” says Kathy Miller Wilson, TAGGED Founder, President and Executive Director.

Join more than 45,000 organizations who use Givelify to grow their giving and further their mission! Sign up here.

As GivingTuesday 2020 is entered into the books, Givelify is proud to be a part of the global generosity movement that unleashes the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and their world. We also celebrate the incredible impact organizations across Givelify and donors made this GivingTuesday and every day.