Over $843B was spent last year during November and December. As far as traditions go, Black Friday is solidly rooted in people’s desires to spend money and find good deals. And Cyber Monday is continually picking up speed, offering stellar details for consumers online. So,what are we to do after this gluttonous spending fizzles out? Participate in Giving Tuesday, of course!

After all of the spending for yourself and your loved ones, #Giving Tuesday is a day set aside to help those in need, and each year it spreads further across social media and gains traction. Giving Tuesday takes place each year on the Tuesday directly following Cyber Monday, and this year will take place on November 28, 2022. So who gets helped on Giving Tuesday? The sky’s the limit. Alma maters, food banks, pet projects, natural disaster relief funds, healthcare organizations, and many other non-profits all benefit from the generosity of others on Giving Tuesday.

Many organizations have dedicated campaigns in order for people to earmark their donations, and in year ten this is already the second-largest giving day of the year, only outflanked by December 31. With a whole country seemingly working together for a single cause, giving to charity, there is a lot of passion that goes along with the movement.

In 2012, Giving Tuesday began as a philanthropic movement to give to those charities who are in need. Starting in the United States, and already branching out to 70 other countries, the movement continues to be more popular. In 2020, there was a 95% increase in donations from 2019, even though the pandemic forced a lot of financial burden.

So what will 2022 bring? No one knows for certain, with the economy in a downturn, but as the momentum continues to build and social media continues to highlight Giving Tuesday nonprofits, there is still hope for non-profits this year.

If you want to participate in Giving Tuesday but are not sure where to start, make the decision to give to a cause that is close to your heart. Even if money is tight this year and you will not be able to give what you want, you are still able to help by raising awareness for a specific cause on your social media pages. Another great idea is for those relatives that have every present imaginable, donate in their name to a charity that they appreciate, and you make the non-profit happy as well as your relative! You can also volunteer with a charity whose mission you support, to help them with Giving Tuesday or all year round.

According to Adnan Zai, Advisor to Berkeley Capital, “If the nonprofit world is to survive in a post covid era, the giving needs to increase as it was neglected during covid.”

This year you can find new charities or see what your friends are donating to on social media. Check out TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to see the ways in which people are channeling their charitable gift-giving this year. Another great question is to ask if your employee is matching donations this year, which would be another way to make the most of your monetary donation. No matter how you go about it, be part of something bigger than yourself by participating in Giving Tuesday this week.