Continuing a seven-year tradition of inspiring people and businesses to get in the giving spirit at the start of the holiday season, #GivingTuesday was trending across all social media on the first Tuesday of December as millions of Americans made charitable donations to organizations throughout the world.
This year, perhaps more than ever, charity — freely giving of time, talents or resources — should play a prominent role in the season’s holidays.
Charity, much like gratitude, is beneficial for health and overall well-being. Various studies have shown charitable actions activate the reward centers of the brain, improve life satisfaction, increase happiness, reduce stress, buoy overall mental health and strengthen communities.
In 2019, nearly $2 billion were raised through #GivingTuesday efforts in the U.S. alone. And this year, GivingTuesday chief data officer Woodrow Rosenbaum said people are really stepping up to “take care of their communities.” He said concern over the negative effects to families, individuals and businesses from the coronavirus pandemic has made people more likely to be generous. According to a report by Fidelity Charitable, many Americans said that they would donate more this year because of the pandemic.
It’s the opposite of what you’d expect in a economic upheaval, and it’s reason for hope.
Aaron Sherinian, one of the leaders behind the #GivingTuesday movement, said in a recent KSL NewsRadio discussion with opinion editor Boyd Matheson that some expected the #GivingTuesday efforts to fail. One critic claimed, “People already have too many causes to donate to and there are already too many options on how to give.” But that claim wasn’t true then, and isn’t true today.
The annual single-day social media movement has “evolved as a labor of love, powered by the ideas and courage of a few, and scaled by the generosity and creativity of many,” Sherinian said. And 2020 is the “perfect time to reinvest in the power and possibility of this day.”
Even a glance around reveals individuals and communities struggling; their needs feel almost too great or too daunting to address. But as Sherinian points out, there are growing numbers of people who want to help, perhaps even enough to exceed those needs.
According to the CAF World Giving Index, a 10-year study on giving trends around the world, the U.S. continues to lead out as the most charitable nation. As a report by WalletHub earlier this year stated, “It is in the DNA of Americans to be generous and make charitable donations, and many studies have shown us that donors are rarely only motivated to gain tax advantages. People want to be smart about the issues they support. … They want to know where their dollars are going; they want to evaluate projects, the process, and the people involved. They want their values to be part of the value that their dollars bring to causes worldwide.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic forces a reflection on what is most important — families, friends, communities, faiths and freedoms — let the introspective inspire you to action. The charity you offer will lessen someone’s sorrow — and it might heal you in the process.