It's time to give, celebrate #GivingTuesday, Facebook to match up to $2M

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - We’ve been thankful and we’ve consumed. Now it’s time to give.

Tuesday Nov. 28 is #GivingTuesday. And during a time where our social media feeds are filled with hate and social divisiveness, Tuesday presents an opportunity to utilize the same public platform – which is a massive collective power – to elicit change.

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that lands on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The effort is predicated on collaboration and is supported by social media though the use of a hashtag (#GivingTuesday).

The event was created in 2012 by a team at the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. It’s the product of influencers and founding partners joining together to mobilize a shared purpose: celebrating and encouraging giving.

Facebook is partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to match up to $2 million in donations that are made on Facebook to eligible U.S. based nonprofits. For a full list of criteria regarding the donations being matched, visit the help center section of Facebook. 

So do some research, find a nonprofit you believe in, and discover a way you can give. If you’ve been itching to help in some way, tomorrow is your launch pad, whether it’s through giving your time or a monetary donation, just do it. Or maybe you’re computer savvy and willing to setup a fundraiser for a nonprofit or an organization that you know needs help. 

Find something, do it, and share it. And not for the praise, but rather to demonstrate that the same tools we have to spread hate and misinformation, to belittle and disparage people, can be used to illuminate the good in our communities. 

The folks who started this have created a portal that helps connect you to organizations, charities and events nearby. 

And while giving should be promoted every day, it’s not. But neither is national coffee day, though when it is, your social feed is flooded with related content. So do that Tuesday, only supplement some heart with a hashtag. 

*Here’s a couple watchdog corporations that monitor nonprofit organizations:
Charity Navigator
CharityWatch
BBB Wise Giving Alliance