Every year, colleges around the country rally to fundraise on Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. After all, Thanksgiving is the day for showing gratitude, so what better time to ask folks to give others reasons to be thankful? Much like the end of Thanksgiving means the beginning of the holiday season, Giving Tuesday marks the beginning of the charity arm of the holiday season.
Giving Tuesday was created by the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y, as a toolkit and organizer for mass giving and philanthropy to people doing great work. Giving Tuesday helps all types of organizations put together a campaign that involves social media, collaboration with other organizations, and building momentum to maximize donations on Giving Tuesday itself.
It can be challenging for an organization to raise funds on its own, every day of the year. How does one gain interest when every other organization is also raising funds on its own, every day of year? By gathering an array of organizations for fundraising that focuses on one day of the year, it becomes easier to bring attention to the event, and it becomes a movement — it’s being mentioned in different forms in media, and it reaches a lot of people. Thus, Giving Tuesday has grown into a global movement, with campaigns happening all around the country and in almost every country in the world. It’s much more exciting than your vanilla, individually owned fundraiser.
So, what does Giving Tuesday look like here at Macaulay? Last year, Macaulay raised over $21,000 on Giving Tuesday alone. Macaulay raised the seventh most out of all the CUNY schools, which is a significant amount considering how much smaller Macaulay is than the other colleges.
The amount of money raised has allowed for more spending for student activities. In my experience, I know this can be pretty significant. As a representative on the Scholars Council, I know that with the right amount of resources, we can put together some truly fantastic events. More resources means great things for already-successful events like the Halloween Party and the Spring Formal. In addition, this year the Scholars Council voted to establish Pizza Fridays at Macaulay Central, where anyone that has an event, club meeting, is studying or just hanging out can come grab a slice.
There are plenty of ways that all Macaulay students can actively promote Giving Tuesday this year. Macaulay is being ambitious and setting a $30,000 goal for fundraising! So, to participate, you can simply share you story — what student activities have been highlights of your time at Macaulay? Share your story on all social media, and make sure to use the hashtag #MacaulayGivingTuesday. Also, feel free to share the wonderful video that Macaulay produced for Giving Tuesday and Macaulay’s actual Giving Tuesday page, where you can do your own fundraising for Macaulay!
Student activities are a vital form of fostering community between Macaulay students, and I hope everyone joins in to fundraise and help enhance the student experience at Macaulay!
