5 Reasons to Participate in #GivingTuesday

Harvey Simmons
10/09/2012

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals soon arrive #GivingTuesday looks to shake up the holiday season with a special type of gift — a day of giving back. #GivingTuesday is on a mission to establish a national day of giving. As stated on their website, “it celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support non-profit organizations.”

The project, initiated by the cultural organization 92Y, furthered its momentum when partnering up with the United Nations Foundation. In just a short time, they have partnered up with over 200 charities, universities, individuals and small and large businesses, from the American Red Cross to Skype.

With an active blog, ideas on ways give and plenty of resources to connect people to the right charities, #GivingTuesday is aligning itself up for success. We were excited to join as a partner last week, and believe it is a worthy cause for institutions to consider as they make their plans for Holiday Season campaigns.

Why participate? Here’s 5 reasons and some quotes from leaders within the movement to back it up:

Join a Global Community

Sol Adler, Executive Director, 92Y
“Communities like ours are about opening doors and bringing people together. #GivingTuesday allows us to create a new kind of community – across geographical borders – around the idea of ‘doing good.’”

Get in the Real Spirit of Giving

Kathy Calvin, CEO, UN Foundation
“#GivingTuesday offers America a new narrative, challenging us to think beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday and reminding us that the spirit of the holiday giving season should be about community and not just consumerism. The most meaningful gift we can give our children, loved ones, friends and neighbors is the commitment to work together to build a better world.”

You Have Social Klout, Use it For Good

Sharon Feder, chief operating officer, Mashable.com
“As a society, we’re more connected than ever before. With digital tools and resources, we are better positioned to effect real world change as a community. I got involved with #GivingTuesday because I saw the amazing potential for a powerful social good movement during the holiday season.”

Everyone Has Something to Give

Margaret Coady, Director, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy
“From the biggest company to the smallest child, everyone has something to give. #GivingTuesday asks us all to consider what makes us unique, and how can we share those talents or resources with others who need a helping hand. “How can I help?” is both a powerful and empowering question. Let’s use #GivingTuesday and the season that it kicks off to take the first steps in answering that question together.”

Participating is Fun!

Colleen Giles Timms, co-creator, #GivingTuesday
“#GivingTuesday is a wonderful opportunity for the giving community to come together under one “umbrella” just as the retail world does on Black Friday. I think it’s a fun and important challenge to show what a difference a day makes. It is especially exciting to see the creative and dynamic initiatives taking shape all over the US.”

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4. Continue to Steward Donors

Your relationship with the donors who give to your endowment doesn’t end when you secure their gifts. Because your endowment exists to make a difference in the long term, your supporters will want you to keep in touch about its progress. Ongoing stewardship means keeping donors updated about your endowment’s performance and impact. A report that strengthens your relationship with donors should cover:

The fund’s balance at the start and end of the year
Spending amounts and allocations
How the fund’s returns compare to your investment targets
A short narrative detailing the specific impacts the endowment achieved

Create a report for each endowment rather than sending an identical document to everyone. A donor who endowed a scholarship wants to hear about the students it supported, while a donor who endowed a building fund wants updates on construction projects.

5. Upgrade Your Endowment Management Tools

Your endowment management tools should make applying your spending policy across every fund easy. Investing in dedicated software is especially useful as your endowment grows. Handling unitization in spreadsheets might work for a few funds, but as you begin to manage dozens or hundreds of gifts, dedicated software can save your team time spent manually calculating gains and losses for each one.

Why Nonprofits Need Dedicated Endowment Management Software

Dedicated endowment software brings accuracy and consistency to every part of the management process, from tracking individual funds to improving security. See how these solutions compare to a spreadsheet-based approach:

nfographic table outlining the information below.

How These Methods Compare:

In managing your endowment with traditional spreadsheets, you may see:

High administrative burden: Manual entry across disconnected systems
Limited security and audit footprints: Reduced version control and audit trail visibility
Difficulty with donor transparency: Spreadsheets provide only static data that is difficult to turn into custom results.

By using dedicated software, you are likely to find the following improvements:

Lower administrative burden: Automated fund tracking and calculated allocations
Enhanced security and audit footprint: Audit-ready reconciliation with clear tracking
Greater donor transparency: Connects with reporting platforms

Dedicated endowment management software keeps your organization compliant while freeing up the time your team once spent manually managing spreadsheets.

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Effective endowment management begins with excellent accounting. Balance by EverTrue handles unitization, applies spending rules, and produces audit-ready reports, so your team can spend more time on the donor relationships that built the fund in the first place.

Turn your data into a clear picture of long-term impact. Combine accurate fund accounting with donor reporting that showcases impact.
Connect with the tools you already use. Pair Balance with Impact by EverTrue and ODDER by EverTrue to create and deliver compelling digital endowment reports that you can send to donors with ease.
Know where every fund stands in real time. Check market values, gift history, and available spending for any fund. Then, share view-only versions with your team, so everyone stays informed.

With Balance, your team can stop spending all your time on manual management and instead add balance to your endowment workflow.

Additional Resources

To learn more about managing your endowment and other ways that technology can help your organization, check out these additional resources:

Webinar: Building a Seamless Relationship Between Endowment Finance and Advancement. In this webinar, we cover the keys to un-complicating your institution’s financial endowment reporting process. Explore how building a connection between your finance and advancement teams can lead to happier donors and happier staff.
The Best Alumni Management Software Solutions in 2026. Alumni management software allows your university to maintain an active community that supports your school in a number of ways. Review top software solutions.
Donor Segmentation: How Organizing Donors Boosts Retention. What is donor segmentation, and how can you use it to boost retention? Learn the need-to-know information in this guide from EverTrue’s fundraising experts.

Less stress, higher endowment funds. Discover how Balance provides the organization, security, and accuracy your endowment needs. Request a demo.

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