There are some things we all do in our daily lives. We breathe, we eat, we experience emotions – and we care about others. Helping others, our friends, our neighbours or even strangers is such a natural part of our lives. But when do we consciously try to give? GivingTuesday was invented for that exact reason- taking a day out of our lives to give something back, as small, or as big as one would like.
GivingTuesday is defining itself as a “global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world”. The movement happens annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. First launched was the movement in 2012 by Henry Timms with the support of the United Nations Foundation and BLK SHP as co-founders.
Through the years, GivingTuesday gained support from all over the world and is now represented in over 85 countries, each one participating in projects in its own way. The small campaign that was launched to motivate and encourage people to do good, was started as an event regarding Thanksgiving and the spirit of giving. However, GivingTuesday was supposed to be a contrast to the shopping and consumption culture that comes with Black Friday. The campaign is a perfect opportunity to celebrate the act of giving in the way someone can. The “Giving” ranges from big donations to simply being more conscious about one’s actions, maybe helping a stranger or a neighbour out.
In current times, social media has a huge impact on civic engagement. Internet activism is a way to get a large amount of people to engage in international campaigns and movements. Hashtag activism contributes largely to the global engagement of GivingTuesday. With the hashtag #GivingTuesday over thousands of people spread global awareness. This is an example of how important engagement on social media is for the NGO sector in this decade.
On the 29th of November 2022, GivingTuesday has been celebrated for the first time in Macedonia. The centre for social initiatives NADEZ was assigned the national leader of GivingTuesday and was therefore the host of this year’s campaign in Macedonia. Tatjana Dimitrova, program manager at CSI NADEZ explained their ambitions regarding the campaign in Macedonia: “As National Leader of the Giving Tuesday movement in […] Macedonia, we are striving to create a national network that will be all about supporting all sides-the people who want to give, the business sector, and the non-profits that rely on people power and the business sector. This year’s event was just a beginning with smaller steps, and we hope that we have set a foundation for a tradition of giving that lasts and grows each year.”
After a long time of organisation and promotion, the event was finally about to happen. On the 29th of November, many people gathered in the Park of Francophonie. With introducing the project, celebrating, and gathering donations the event was a success and received positive feedback: about 15 organizations were directly represented at the event, furthermore support was given by various organizations from the NGO and business sector.
Hosting GivingTuesday is not only a great chance for Macedonia to take part in more global movements, strengthen their relations with other countries and learn from other countries’ experiences. Furthermore, it also supports the local NGO sector and creates a wider audience for social projects. The centre for social initiatives NADEZ also hopes to promote their values and spread awareness for the causes of their social engagement, hoping to encourage others in social and volunteer work.
Tamina Schulze
Sources:
Givingtuesday.ca
Xue Tan;Yingda Lu; Yong Tan: The Impact of Subscription Reciprocity on Charitable Content Creation and Sharing: Evidence from Twitter on Giving Tuesday
VOICES 
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