GivingTuesday Toolkit for Companies and Brands

Every year, for GivingTuesday, companies and brands show their commitment to doing good in creative ways. This toolkit contains everything you need to participate in the global generosity movement.

Being public about your values is good for your business and good for the world. Some quick facts about brands and giving back:

• 64% of people consider themselves “belief-driven buyers”, according to a 2020 study by Edelman— meaning they will choose, switch, avoid or cancel a brand based on its stance on social issues. (source)
• 90% are more likely to try a product from a person or company that takes a stand on social and political issues.  (source)
• 80% are willing to pay MORE for a product or service from a brand that’s public about their social and political values (source)
• 85% of customers respond more favorably to businesses that support causes they care about, and 83% of Americans wish that those they did business with would support good causes. (source)
• Volunteering as a team helps to create connections between employees. It’s a great team building activity, expanding creativity and happiness, and even reducing employee turnover by 50%. (source) 
• 79% of employees prefer to work for socially responsible companies and think it’s important companies match their charitable giving. (source)
• Taking a stand and giving back to causes builds trust, connection, and long-lasting relationships. It demonstrates that you have values and goals beyond revenue, and it’s an expression of authenticity. There’s no better moment than GivingTuesday for brands, businesses and consumers to drive change within their communities.

Ideas

• Leverage your matching gift program and provide a double match to employees’ donations to nonprofits
  • An estimated $4-7 Billion USD in matching gift funds go unclaimed each year (source) – let’s change that on GivingTuesday!
• Organize a team volunteer day on GivingTuesday
• Commit to donating pro bono time/expertise to a nonprofit in advance of their GivingTuesday campaign
• Match donations that consumers make to a specific charity or cause that aligns with your CSR strategy
• Send a flyer with your monthly bill or mailer that reminds your users and customers about GivingTuesday.
• Donate a portion of sales on GivingTuesday to a small, lesser-known organization.
• If appropriate, give products. For example, donate laptops to a school or food to your local food bank.
• Launch a weekly Tuesday giving campaign and keep the GivingTuesday spirit alive all year
• Get creative! Check out our case studies below for more inspiration and feel free to email us if you’d like help!

Remember to:

• Share your plans with the GivingTuesday team so we can help boost your efforts!
• Create buzz ahead of time, inviting clients and consumers to participate in your campaign. Send out a press release and media alert. 
• Share your company’s GivingTuesday success with blog posts, company newsletters, on social media and even in any other consumer or stakeholder communications. This helps spread the news and may lead to an even larger impact next year!

More Resources

GivingTuesday is Vital to Corporate Social Responsibility

Hyatt awarded 31 nonprofits across the globe with Hyatt Community Grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 on GivingTuesday to further local organization’s missions throughout the following year. To celebrate and spread the word, Hyatt created a special microsite to shine a light on the grant recipients and highlight stories of Hyatt employees giving back throughout the year. They also shared via social media using the hashtags #GivingTuesday and #HyattThrive.

Following its biggest shopping day ever, Amazon made it easier for consumers to give presents to children in need by simply saying, “Alexa, donate to Toys for Tots.” Alexa then recommended a gift from Toys for Tots’ curated list and after the order was confirmed, Amazon matched each donation toy for toy.

Coca-Cola matched $100k in donations to its nonprofit partners in Metro Atlanta which support fostering women’s entrepreneurship— providing education, skills-based training, and other professional development resources that help women overcome barriers to success.

United Airlines matched customer donations of MileagePlus miles to the airline’s featured Charity Miles partners up to 6 million miles. MileagePlus members who donated 1,000 miles or more to one of United’s charity partners had their donation matched mile for mile up to 5 million miles by United Airlines. 

Each year for GivingTuesday, TOMS® Shoes keeps its stores across the country closed until 1:00 pm in order to let employees spend the morning volunteering (virtually in recent years) at local organizations they care about.

In 2018, Zenith sent staff to volunteer at NYC nonprofits, including Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. and Project Angel Food. One of their employees said, “I spent 4 hours chopping vegetables for people who suffer from illnesses that don’t allow them to cook for themselves. My arm is hurting, but somewhere someone will have my veggies and it’ll make their day a little easier, and that’s honestly all that matters.”

Google partnered with GivingTuesday Czech Republic on a tree planting campaign and is participating as a key partner to help GivingTuesday Ireland grow their country movement. 

In Panama, the state TV network, Sertv, sent their  news anchors and team members to cleanup a local public park, publicizing it in their news cycle and social media. The event launched their new volunteering program where they will have a giving activity every last Tuesday of the upcoming year.

Epitech, an IT and digital training firm, partnered with GivingTuesday France to inspire students to design and facilitate generosity activities, including coding workshops for younger students, collections of computer equipment, clothing, and toys, fundraising for associations, blood donations, and a hackathon dedicated to donation all aimed at promoting digital inclusion.

In San Antonio, Portland, and Seattle, Imperfect Produce invited customers to reuse their Imperfect boxes by filling them up with most-needed pantry items. Imperfect Produce delivery drivers picked them up for two weeks starting on GivingTuesday and donated what was collected to the San Antonio Food Bank, Oregon Food Bank, and Seattle Food Lifeline Food Bank.

ČEPS,  the electric company that serves the entirety of the Czech Republic, encouraged their employees to vote to select three charitable projects that received a total of CZK 450,000 in support from the company. Employees could also contribute to their favorite organizations through payroll deductions.

On GivingTuesday, Casper supported rescue, relief, and resettlement organizations by donating mattresses, sheets, and other essentials to families in need. Organizations included The Red Cross, IRC, IFT, and Miry’s List.

JetBlue ran a #CheckInForGood contest and flew a plane full of do-gooders to “Destination Good,” an undisclosed location where they would volunteer. They announced the destination on GivingTuesday and over the course of 3 days in the Dominican Republic, the do-gooders renovated a local school, beautified a community play space, and built buoys to protect coral reef beds.

GEICO supported military and veterans on GivingTuesday 2021 by collecting essential items that will be donated to VA Hospitals across the country. They will be working with NABC Recycled Rides to donate 30+ vehicles to the military/veteran community across the country.

JPMorgan Chase gave a $2 credit for every $1 donated – up to $1,000 – to employees’ Charitable Spending Account, which was used to “pay it forward” to nonprofit organizations. Together with 10,000 employees, the firm raised $5.9 million dollars. This represents a 63% increase in the number of participating employees since 2017 and a 28% increase in donations.

Ogilvy partnered with  GivingTuesday Puerto Rico to create a campaign called “GivingSongs” (for which they ended up winning a Clio award). They asked world renowned Puerto Rican artists to show compassion in a simple way: by giving their smash hit titles on YouTube a whole new meaning. For the entire GivingTuesday, when millions of people searched for their favorite music video, their song titles turned into public service announcements, letting fans know which cause they were supporting and inviting them to make a donation in honor of GivingTuesday.