“Giving Tuesday” (sometimes written #GivingTuesday), a day to raise funds for charitable causes, is officially underway.
According to CNN.com, the day was started in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation.
“When this started out a couple years ago we were pretty skeptical about it,” admitted Colleen Finn-Ridenhour, Senior Vice President of Development for Habitat for Humanity.
But by 2015, Giving Tuesday had spread to 98 countries and raised approximately $177 million, according to the campaign’s official website.
“There’s been, in a short amount of time, a great deal of awareness around this campaign,” Finn-Redenhour told CNN. “As the public has become more familiar over the last couple of years we’ve seen folks raising their hands and joining in more significantly.”
To take part in Giving Tuesday, all you need to do is pick a charity you trust and visit their website to donate. Many organizations are including the hashtag #GivingTuesday in their recent social media posts as a reminder.
Ultimately, the #GivingTuesday campaign aims to encourage people to donate to a cause that’s important to them. How, or which one, isn’t as important.
Information from CNN.com contributed to this report.
