Yesterday, on December 3^rd, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, millions of donations were made to charities as part of the GivingTuesday campaign. Now in its seventh year, this campaign has evolved into a global movement that involves over 200 local giving campaigns in the U.S. and 60 in other countries around the world. See the “Days of Giving” cover story from our latest Wise Giving Guide magazine to learn more about GivingTuesday as well as other regional and cause-related giving days around the country.

The previous Wise Giving Wednesday featured wise giving tips to help ensure that generosity was directed towards trustworthy organizations.  Of course, contributions don’t end with this one event. Charities need your continuing support throughout the year. Also, don’t forget to support charities that are seeking to help areas impacted by hurricanes, tornados, mass shootings, and other tragedies and disasters in 2019. They deserve your continuing attention and support as they address long-term recovery efforts. Needs don’t disappear when the headlines do.

If you are short on cash, consider alternatives such as donating used items, the items need to be in good used condition in order to claim a charitable deduction on your federal income tax.  For example, if a charity accepts used clothing, a torn sweatshirt won’t do.  

For those who missed GivingTuesday, there are many other opportunities to help charities. Be generous in your choices but always seek to verify an organization’s accountability before you donate. Visit Give.org to find out if they meet the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability. 

Video of the Week

As part of the building trust video series, we are pleased to provide a video featuring Asha Curran, Co-Founder and CEO of GivingTuesday, which is now a separate charitable organization.  Ms. Curran describes the global nature of GivingTuesday and their data collaborative which seeks to help information collected during this campaign to be pooled and shared with other organizations and communities to help them address their respective goals and missions.

Recent Reports

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• InStep International
• New Israel Fund
• Partnership with Native Americans

Finally, remember to let us know by going to give.org/charity-inquiry if you are  interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.

H. Art Taylor, President and CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance