Created in 2012, #GivingTuesday is a charitable grassroots campaign meant to counteract the mass, holiday-fueled spending that comes with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Tuesday, December 1 marked the fourth anniversary of the event. For 24 hours, #GivingTuesday was mentioned across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to promote giving and provide opportunities for widespread philanthropy. This week, we’ll discuss the success of #GivingTuesday, as well as some of the larger charitable initiatives produced from the event.
According to early calculations provided by #GivingTuesday organizers, the event received 1.3 million mentions across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, up from 750,000 mentions the year before. These mentions helped to raise more than $116 million in online donations, up 155 percent from last year. “We are just so thrilled,” said Sheila Herrling, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Case Foundation, which funded the data analysis. “The movement caught on last year, and it’s here to stay.”
In one of the largest giving promises made to date, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, pledged their Facebook shares, totaling $45 billion, in the form of a new charitable organization. The new company, The Chan Zuckerberg LLC, was announced by the couple in a note to their newborn daughter, Maxima Chan Zuckerberg, which was published on Facebook on Tuesday.
The interesting part of this company is the last three letters: LLC, which stands for Limited Liability Company. This business structure is different from many organizations owned by philanthropists, who usually establish non-profits, though there are many benefits to establishing a for-profit charitable organization. An LLC provides more flexibility in investing, ability to support political causes and does not require a minimum charitable spending.
Establishing charitable LLCs appears to be a trend with young billionaires and Silicon Valley donors, who are giving their money away early in their careers. Jacob Harold, the chief executive of GuideStar, a national database about nonprofits, offered his opinion on the choice. “It’s buying optionality, so that down the road they could still decide to direct money to nonprofits or they could choose to invest in really cool solar energy companies that are doing a lot of good,” he said. “It will enable the creative and flexible use of capital over time.”
Also on Giving Tuesday, Snapchat, in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, donated $3 million toward AIDS research. The foundation donated $3 to nonprofit group (RED) each time one of its decorative “World AIDS Day” banners was used on the social app, closing donations after 1 million uses. The colorful, sometimes animated, filters often display the name of a place or event. On Tuesday, three separate options encouraged viewers to “join the fight” against AIDS. This was the first time Snapchat involved itself in a wide-scale fundraising initiative.
Did you, or a brand you follow, participate in #GivingTuesday? Share your story in the comments below.
Photo credits: recodetech.files.wordpress.com, Facebook, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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Brian Mulligan is an Intern at WordWrite Communications. He can be reached at brian.mulligan@wordwritepr.com or on Twitter, @brian_mulligan1.
