How to Celebrate Giving Tuesday at Your Company

What’s the best way to celebrate Giving Tuesday? Just give.

Giving Tuesday (November 28th, 2023) is the global day of giving, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. In celebration, people do good by giving to the causes and charities they care about most. Giving Tuesday represents (in most cases) the largest campaign nonprofits host during the year. 

Why your company should celebrate Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is the perfect opportunity to engage your employees on a day (and during the holiday season) when doing good is already top of mind, so employees are even more motivated to give back. 

Plus, it gives nonprofits the chance to raise even more money than they would on an average day, which is why many companies create special campaigns to participate in this incredible day of giving and the giving season.

Kickstart your holiday giving and spirit with these 3 major workplace philanthropy initiatives that engage your employees and community.

How your company can celebrate Giving Tuesday

The following initiatives were curated by our team of social impact experts that execute thoughtful workplace giving efforts for our customers every day. Some of these initiatives are easy enough to accomplish internally, but for others, you will need to lean on a workplace philanthropy program or team. 

Don’t have a workplace giving program or team? Learn more about Percent Pledge powered customized social impact programs, a single source for donations, volunteering, charity vetting, & impact reports.

[1] Donating

Charitable organizations rely heavily on donations, so c’mon, let’s unleash the power of generosity and show up for issues your company and employees cares about.

Implement a matching donation campaign – Give your employees the opportunity to donate to nonprofits or causes they care about and boost their impact by matching their donations, creating a personalized employee experience they’ll love. 

Give the gift of Cause Credits (in lieu of holiday gifts) – Instead of simply giving gifts to your employees, give them (something we like to call) “Cause Credits.” Think of it as a matching donation campaign, but the only donor is your company (rather than both the employee and company). So, your company picks the donation amount, and your employee can donate the gifted money to any nonprofit or cause of their choice. Easy, huh?

76% of Percent Pledge customers ran a match or Cause Credit campaign in 2021 to boost holiday giving and employee engagement. And it worked. Some saw 90% engagement.

Give corporate gifts to brand-aligned or employee-chosen nonprofits – Celebrate and share your gratitude for a wonderful year by supporting nonprofits that are making a difference in social issues and causes your company and employees care about.

Each of these types of donations can be easily made through the Percent Pledge Workplace Giving Platform.

[2] Volunteering 

Whether it’s organizing a company-wide blood drive or participating in an afternoon of team building, giving even a little of your company's time can go a long way in helping others.

Spearhead a winter coat drive – Organize or donate to a winter coat drive through One Warm Coat, and they’ll also pair you with a local nonprofit. 

Organize a food drive – Food drives are an easy and effective way to give, and along with Feeding America you’ll be able to distribute food time for Thanksgiving. 

Do good and have a blast doing it – Organize a skateboard build (and other cool stuff) with Foster Love and help foster agencies provide meaningful gifts to its youth. 

Give the gift of reading – Books can be incredibly scarce, especially in lower-income communities. Organize a book drive through The Children's Book Bank. 

[3] Other acts of kindness, generosity, and all around do-goodery

It’s simple, it doesn't matter what you do, just do good, and good things will happen. 

May the best (most giving) team win! – Host a friendly, holiday-giving competition with departments, company branches, employee resource groups, etc. The team that has the most participation in a volunteer event, raises the most money for a nonprofit, or reaches a set goal wins! 

#socialmediacampaign – Create a hashtag or social post with a drive to engagement. For example, for the number of shares, likes, or comments on the hashtag or post, your company can donate an equivalent amount of dollars to a nonprofit. It’s a great way to boost brand awareness and engage your whole community (employees, customers, and stakeholders). 

Office holiday (giving) party – "Givify" your office holiday party by adding a company-sponsored donation for every employee who attends. This makes a big impact on a nonprofit or cause and serves as an extra incentive for employees to show up! Announcing the winning nonprofit at the party is the perfect addition to a great event.

Puppy booth (that’s right, “puppies!”) – Boost morale and raise donations by coordinating some puppy time in your office with your local animal shelter. Set up a petting and pic station and get to fundraising. Pets are $5, pics are $10 and 100% of proceeds go to the animal shelter. It’s a great way to engage those puppy lovers, in other words, EVERYONE in your office! 

Find a breakdown of each of these efforts and more for your company to make a positive impact this coming holiday season by downloading our Giving Tuesday kit. Again, if you need help pursuing these initiatives, request a demo to learn more about Percent Pledge’s proven social impact program and team of experts.