Everyone’s heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but are you familiar with Giving Tuesday? Hint: it’s today! This day reminds us to give back to our communities, and alerts us to the many avenues to be part of positive change. As we enter the holiday season, we want to share a few ways we can contribute to causes we care about, and highlight what our FCP team is doing to give you a few ideas.
1.We Bought a Llama!
Even small monetary gifts to nonprofits can make a demonstrable difference in the lives of the people they serve. It’s easy to think your $5 donation isn’t worthwhile – but if just ten individuals make a donation that size, $50 has been raised! One of our team’s favorite organizations to support is Heifer International. As in previous years, this holiday season, we’ve donated to Heifer to fund the purchase of a llama for a family in the Andes. This animal will provide warm wool for the family to use and sell.
2. Donate Time
At a multitude of nonprofits and charitable organizations, volunteers are both vital to the organization’s success, and also perpetually running low. Many volunteers find that in addition to being able to help a cause they care about, activities such as serving lunch at their local food bank or reading with a learning child allow them to connect on a deeper level with their community and humanity. As individuals, our team members make a point to donate time to causes we care about. In the past month, one of our team members helped out at St. Anthony’s clothes bank in San Francisco with other ComNet attendees (ComNet is a yearly gathering for strategic communications professionals), and several others canvassed for political causes they felt strongly about.
3. Lend Expertise
Another valuable resource you can share with causes you care about is your voice! You can lend your specific knowledge to sharpen a nonprofit’s skills set in your wheelhouse, or amplify a message you feel needs to be heard. Our team seeks out opportunities to support work we believe in with our communications know-how and connections. Each week we take calls and answer emails from our fellow social change communicators and provide advice where we can. Recently, one of our senior staffers gave a lecture to a Mills College political communications class, sharing her expertise and taking time to answer questions from students.
We’re sharing our giving habits with you today in the hope we spark in your mind or organization an opportunity for giving – maybe you’re inspired by one of our ideas, or have one of your own. If you’re stumped but want to help, we recommend you check out the Giving Tuesday site to find a plethora of inspiring causes at the local, national, and international level.
Happy Giving Tuesday!
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