ASU Foundation observes #GivingTuesday

Nov. 27 is ‘opening day’ of a new ‘giving season’

The ASU Foundation for A New American University will observe #GivingTuesday – a nationwide call-to-action to Americans to give during the holiday shopping season.

The foundation will do its part in two ways: by matching item-for-item any food brought in for its annual Food Drive Challenge and by encouraging employees to participate in an American Red Cross blood drive being held at the Memorial Union on Tuesday.

“As team members at the ASU Foundation, we know about giving,” says R.F. “Rick” Shangraw Jr., chief executive officer of the foundation. “On Tuesday, the foundation will encourage its employees to give to people who need help. We’re excited to participate in this national day of giving. It’s a wonderful way to begin the holiday season and another opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to helping others.”

Spearheaded by New York City’s 92nd Street Y and a core group of founding partners, including the United Nations Foundation, #GivingTuesday is a movement designed around the annual holiday shopping season. Organizers hope to see it join “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” as an important part of the seasonal calendar.

Retailers, charities, organizations, community centers, families and individuals are being encouraged to come together to find ways to give back to their communities. Each partner is responsible for its own initiative, as #GivingTuesday is not a funding organization, but rather an umbrella under which projects will take place.

There are many ways participants can help, organizers say.

Those include launching a campaign to support a cause, creating an online giving initiative, organizing volunteers – even holding a bake sale to benefit a cause. Businesses can also – like the ASU Foundation – match employees’ donations on that day.

Organizers hope that these collective efforts will inspire a movement and start a new national dialogue on giving.

“Imagine what it would be like if everyone who can give, would give,” Shangraw says. “This is a great way to get that idea out there, and get the dialogue started.”

For more information on the foundation and its efforts on behalf of #GivingTuesday, go to asufoundation.org.

For more information on the founding partners, go to givingtuesday.org/partners.

For more resources and ideas, go to givingtuesday.org/resources.

Melissa Bordow, melissa.bordow@asu.edu
Communications Specialist, Editorial Services
ASU Foundation for A New American University
480-965-7737