Hopefully by now you know what #givingtuesday is and how it works. But did you know this fast-growing charity campaign is actually a multi million pound, record-breaking day with a whole host of success stories behind it? Here are ten fun facts we bet you never knew about #givingtuesday:
1. It’s a record breaker. That’s right, for the past two years in a row #givingtuesday has set, and then broken, the Guinness World Record for the most amount of money donated online to charity in 24 hours: a whopping £35m globally!
2. We’re way more popular than the football. Well, sort of. Over 4.5million people told us they took part in #givingtuesday in 2016, all doing something special for a cause they care about. That’s more than double the number of people (1.69) who tune in every week to watch a live Premier League game on TV.
3. Politicians love us. Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Nick Clegg, Nicola Sturgeon, Boris Johnson, Tony Blair, David Cameron – they are just a handful of the politicians who have publicly backed the campaign in the UK. And overseas, former US President Barack Obama absolutely loved #givingtuesday when he was in office calling #givingtuesday a “grassroots movement that illustrates the impact we can have when we all pull together.”
4. It’s making a real difference to people’s lives. It’s easy to talk about the big numbers when it comes to #givingtuesday, but do you know the impact the day is having on real lives? In 2016 Clic Sargent raised £7,600. That money paid for an extra 360 hours of nursing care for young patients receiving treatment for cancer.
5. It’s a global craze. But unlike fidget spinners, #givingtuesday actually has a purpose; celebrating charity and encouraging giving to some amazing causes. It now runs officially in 30 countries including Russia, Germany, USA, India, Argentina, Italy, Armenia, Slovakia, and the list goes on.
6. It has its own puppy. That’s right – a cute, adorable puppy. Meet Lacey, a Golden Retriever who’s first year of assistance dog training was funded through donations on #givingtuesday. Dogs for Good have since been updating everyone on Lacey’s progress and she’s doing incredibly well!
7. We’re supported by some of the UK’s most loved brands. Over 1,600 organisations are official partners of #givingtuesday in the UK, meaning they do something special to celebrate the day. That list includes big brands like Costa, Sainsbury’s, O2, Natwest, Wilko and Co-op, as well as some of the biggest national charities including Cancer Research UK, Save the Children, Movember and Age UK.
8. It’s becoming a tradition. Some of our favourite partners are those who use #givingtuesday to do the same thing every year and have made it into a tradition. Like Marie Curie, where staff spend the day writing thank you cards to supporters, or Send a Cow where every year they spoof the John Lewis Christmas ad using, you guessed it, a cow!
9. We’ve had it’s very own telly ad. Last year Sky TV and BT both donated over 250 ad spots for our special #givingtuesday TV ad voiced by Doc Martin star Martin Clunes. We challenge you to watch the ad and not spend your afternoon humming the song (which was written especially for the ad). Impossible.
10. Thousands goes to charity every minute. Visa Europe told us that in 2015 more than £6,250 was donated to charity every minute by people using their payment cards. There’s 1440 minutes in a day, so that’s a lot of cash! housands goes to charity every minute. Visa Europe told us that in 2015 more than £6,250 was donated to charity every minute by people using their payment cards. There’s 1440 minutes in a day, so that’s a lot of cash!
