#GivingTuesday signs up 1,000 partners for global day of giving

Get Connected as joined more than 1,000 UK charities and businesses as an official partner of #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving at the start of the festive season.

The day, led in the UK by the Charities Aid Foundation, takes place on 1st December and follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday - two of the UK's biggest shopping days. It is an opportunity for charities, families, businesses, community centres and students to come together to do something good for a cause they care about.

Get Connected, the UK's free, confidential helpline service for under 25s, has signed up again this year and is launching a roadshow to promote their second annual paperchain challenge on the day.

Genevieve Hinchliff, Fundraising and Events Officer at Get Connected, says: "The #GivingTuesday movement gives us a chance to connect with the local community and share and celebrate all the great work our staff and volunteers do, as well as giving us a chance to thank donors and raise awareness. Being part of such a fast growing movement is really exciting!"

With six weeks still to go, hitting 1,000 partners guarantees that #GivingTuesday 2015 will be even bigger than last year, when just over 800 organisations signed up as official partners for the UK's first #GivingTuesday.

The day saw a surge in donations, trended on social media and was backed by high profile celebrities and politicians.

Charities and businesses taking part this year include the Stroke Association, GoodGym, Dementia UK, Volunteer Now, WaterAid, NSPCC, Stonewall, RSPCA, Homes for Veterans, RBS, Microsoft and Morrisons.

Kim Roberts, CAF's #GivingTuesday campaign manager says: “We are astounded at the response to #GivingTuesday this year and delighted that we have hit 1,000 partners already. After two of the most frenetic shopping days of the year, #GivingTuesday is a day when charity can really kick off Christmas.

People now have an extra reason to be charitable and shout about it. It is a chance for charities to celebrate the great work they do and for people to give back to the causes they care about."

#GivingTuesday came to the UK for the first time last year, having originated in the USA in 2012. It now takes place in 12 countries across the world. This time last year just 285 organisations were on board for the UK campaign.

Just Giving saw a 46% increase in donations compared to the previous year and Visa found that an average of £2500 was donated every minute on #GivingTuesday by UK Visa cardholders – this was a 10% higher than figures for the same day in 2013.

Last year the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and a number of celebrities including Helen Mirren, David Tennant, Tom Daley and Rita Ora all publicly supported the campaign.

Last week founder of MoneySavingExpert.com Martin Lewis launched a search for charity heroes to put themselves, colleagues or friends forward to become the face of #GivingTuesday in the UK and help to recognise the millions of people across the UK who do so much to support good causes.

Community activists are being encouraged to put themselves forward as the Champion of the campaign, and the winner will be announced at the #GivingTuesday Parliamentary Reception in November, also receiving £250 to give to a charity of their choice.

Here are FIVE simple ideas for organisations who are planning activity on #GivingTuesday:

• 1.CHARITIES: Do something to celebrate what you do and the difference you make. Get your supporters and beneficiaries to do the same. Last year the Royal Albert Hall used this idea to show the fantastic work that goes on behind the scenes with a series of videos promoted through Twitter.

• 2.BUSINESSES: Do something together with local charities or other organisations that will help you achieve your aims and give your company, their staff and customers a way to get involved. Last year Delete Blood Cancer carried out a Swabathon for #GivingTuesday. They spent the day visiting offices taking cheek swabs and registered over 300 potential stem cell donors - as well as raising £1000.

• 3.CHARITIES AND BUSINESSES: Do something to boost your Christmas campaign, especially if you've already pinned down what you are doing and you don't have the additional time or resources to create something new. Why not launch your campaign on December 1st and jump on the buzz of #GivingTuesday? Lots of partners did that last year and were delighted with the results. Age UK linked the day with #DonateACoat.

• 4.CHARITIES AND BUSINESSES: Do something different and be creative. Perhaps your local park needs a rubbish sweep, your offices need a spring clean or your donors need to be thanked. Do it on #GivingTuesday. Last year, Marie Curie decided not to focus on fundraising and instead turned the day over to saying thank you, with everyone from senior leaders and nurses, office support and IT teams getting involved in sending hand written letters to thank donors. The video that they shared on Facebook was viewed more than 20,000 times.

• 5.CHARITIES AND BUSINESSES: Do something social and share on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Just by using the '#GivingTuesday' hashtag, you'll be joining in a global conversation and will be speaking to a huge audience and helping to create the buzz yourself. Last year, charity Stewardship made this video and shared it on Twitter.

Editor's notes:

• 1.For a full list of partners see http://www.givingtuesday.org.uk/partners.html

• 2.For further details and to make entries for the #Giving Tuesday Champion see www.givingtuesday.org.uk/stories/could-you-our-givingtuesday-ambassador.html

• 3.You can see a video of what happened on #GivingTuesday 2014 here: https://player.vimeo.com/video/127018165?autoplay=1

• 4.#GivingTuesday began life in the USA in 2012, kick-started by 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation.