GivingTuesday brings vital boost to end of year giving

Every year, GivingTuesday lands immediately after Black Friday and Cyber Monday as a global celebration of giving and antidote to the previous days’ consumerism, inspiring the public to do what they can to help others. In 2020, it has been a vital boost to end of year giving after a particularly tough pandemic year.

Globally, the campaign continues to escalate and in this round-up we shine a spotlight on some of the ways that European nations chose to celebrate GivingTuesday this year, on 01 December 2020.

Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, Valencia

The Spanish and Czech GivingTuesday campaigns captured the eye by lighting up symbolic buildings across the nations, stirring up conversation about the day of giving and encouraging the nation to take action. The Czech campaign focused on the health profession, lighting up hospital buildings in honour of those working to protect the nation from Covid-19 and as a symbol for all those affected by the virus.

In Norway, companies came together on LinkedIn to do a relay, donating hours of their time to make thank-you calls and show support for the Norwegian Parkinson’s Association. Companies challenged each other on social media, passing the torch to get other companies to participate. While in Italy, some of the biggest artists came together to perform a live concert on Facebook to generosity around the country.

GivingTuesday Slovakia launched a campaign starring 22 Slovak celebrities. The influencers, actors, and athletes contributed video messages to inspire the public to give. The campaign sought to alleviate the polarisation of society, building a sense of solidarity and unity during quarantine.

One of a number of firsts, Ireland held its first GivingTuesday campaign, calling on companies and individuals to give back. Meanwhile, Pia Tornikoski, secretary general of VaLa and leader of the Finnish campaign, TekojenTiistai, was interviewed on NBC’s Today Show about the nation’s inspirational campaign message, calling for ‘A million actions of good’.

In the Netherlands, participants were asked to share their giving story with a heart selfie on social media, hashtagged with #GivingTuesday & #MyGivingStory and to nominate a number of friends to do the same. Drukwerkdeal.nl a digital online press company offered people the opportunity to send a free digital postcard to a family member or those they have not seen due to the pandemic.

In Switzerland, over 110 GivingTuesday campaigns took place; a new record for the country, including one by Jelmoli, the largest premium department store in Switzerland. The store offered to donate 5 francs to the Theodora Foundation for every purchase of 50 francs or more from the Black Friday weekend.

And in the UK, we saw the launch of GiveBack2020 – a fundraising initiative that encouraged people to give back in a range of ways, from asking people who have been working from home to donate the cost of a week’s commute to baking and selling mince pies to raise money for their favourite cause. Many celebrities took part and helped to promote this year’s campaign.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Austria launched an advent calendar app; when buying a coke, people receive a code which they can use to win prizes through the app. The prizes can either be consumed or they can be donated to Caritas Austria. This launched on December 1 and will run through the holiday period.

And leaders in Romania organised a week-long campaign, beginning on GivingTuesday and focusing on encouraging support by donating your birthday, money, volunteering time or giving blood, enabling the public to schedule their activities through an app.