What is Giving Tuesday?
#GivingTuesday is a secular event created in 2012 in New York to encourage giving back after the shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Driven by social media and online donation campaigns, Giving Tuesday is a global campaign during which individuals are encouraged to give to their favorite charity over a 24-hour period.
Why should I participate?
Giving back is what we do every day as Catholic Christians but #GivingTuesday offers the opportunity to support Catholic ministries while sharing our Catholic faith. Using the digital platforms available to us, we can encourage participation from all those whose lives have been positively affected by Catholic ministries.
Instead of giving to secular nonprofits, some of which do amazing work, please consider giving to your Catholic school, parish or ministry.
How do I donate?
Due to its nature, all donations on #GivingTuesday are encouraged to be made online. You can select your school and donate here: bitly.com/givecatholicwm
After #GivingTuesday has finished, the diocesan finance office will write a check for the entire amount donated to each school who received funds within that 24-hour period. The diocese is covering the cost of credit card fees for online donations through bitly.com/givecatholicwm
New this year - The Catholic Foundation of West Michigan has generously agreed to sponsor this year’s #GivingCatholicWM campaign with grants totaling $10,000!
There will be six challenges across the 24-hour period of Giving Tuesday. The six challenges are intended to encourage participation, inspire the sharing of faithful, joyous stories, and spark good-natured competition. Donate and compete to receive additional funds for your mission! Click here to learn about the challenges so you can strategically plan your donation.
**In order to qualify for any challenge grants, all donations must be received through the diocesan giving website.
How much of my donation will go to the school I choose?
One hundred percent.
How do I encourage others to donate to Catholic schools on #GivingTuesday?
The diocese will be monitoring social media on Tuesday looking for the hashtag #GiveCatholicWM. Use the hashtag in your social media posts to get shares, likes and replies from diocesan accounts. Also, tag/mention us on Facebook (Diocese of Grand Rapids), Twitter and Instagram (@GRDiocese) to see and share what we're posting.