Updated January 13, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutes
A Different Start for the Holiday Season
No doubt you’ve heard about Black Friday. #GivingTuesday, founded in 2012 by the United Nations Foundation and NY’s 92nd Street Y, is a global movement to celebrate generosity and to give. Let’s explore how this idea sprouted around the holiday shopping frenzy.
Black Friday & Small Business Saturday Slides Into Cyber Monday
Black Friday refers to the day after Thanksgiving where we emerged from our turkey comas and hit the shopping mall. Many stores are pushing pre-Black Friday incentives where they open their doors on Thanksgiving Day encouraging millions of shoppers to get a jump on their holiday shopping. “Black” refers to retailer ledgers going from red (unprofitable) into the black.
If you’re interested in the history of the term — dating back to Philadelphia — and how it wasn’t commonly used nationwide, a 2011 Mother Jones article provides an interesting retrospective. Forbes released their 2014 predictions a few days ago. According to their stats, 55% of Americans plan NOT to shop at all on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday. A surprising (and sad) statistic is that Thanksgiving Day sales represented nearly 12% of all holiday weekend sales. For many gone are the days of sitting uncomfortably full (eating a second helping of pumpkin pie) on the couch watching football with family and friends. Rather than spending time with those important to use we must head to the mall for some retail mania.
In 2005 Shop.org/Bizrate Research did a study. 77% of online retailers reported a substantial sales increase on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It’s now known for online sales, encouraging consumers to make their holiday purchases with virtual shopping carts. USAToday predicts that Black Friday deals will be better online than in retail stores.
To promote shopping locally, Small Business Saturday was first observed in 2010 (amidst the dark days of the Great Recession). Holiday shoppers are encouraged to buy from small businesses to promote local communities.
Now… in the midst of all this marketing hype and consumerism… there’s #GivingTuesday!
#GivingTuesday on Many Channels
#GivingTuesday now has the support of 10,000 organizations worldwide and counting. Tuesday, December 2 is the big day (only 11 days away). It’s a refreshing spin in a me-centric world. Look at some of last year’s #GivingTuesday stats:
- Over 300,000 tweets
- Featured on Google’s home search page
- White House blog
There are many ways you can participate in #Giving Tuesday. Here are a few of the ideas from the official website:
- Take an Unselfie: take a pic, tag it #unselfie and #givingtuesday, then upload to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram thru 12/2.
- Get family involved
- Share info with employees & match donations
- Feature causes that your company gives to on December 2 on your blog/website
- Partner with a local nonprofit organization
How will you celebrate generosity and give on #GivingTuesday?
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photo credit top: Kris
photo credit body: Jim Fischer
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