This year’s Giving Tuesday – the global day of giving that likely flooded your Inbox with appeals – was a record-breaker, with nonprofit organizations raising a total of nearly $2 billion. Roughly $511 million of that came from online donations, many of them generated on social media platforms.
And yes, the Community Foundation of New Jersey was one of the nonprofit organizations sending appeals for worthy projects (we shared an opportunity to augment the work of New Jersey’s four incredible women’s giving circles and support the nonprofit organizations they’ve studiously vetted).
But as an institution firmly rooted in the long-term effect of philanthropy, we think that what happens after Giving Tuesday can be even more important. It’s why we argue that the best thing a philanthropic-minded person can do throughout the holiday season is to think. Think about the values, interests, and aspirations that drive you to give in the first place.
Why did you choose the local animal shelter for your gift? What do you hope the shelter does with these dollars? How would you like the shelter to better serve your community?
New Jerseyans ask and answer questions like these every day, driving new ideas and more diverse philanthropy. Each of 7,722 individual grants totaling $66.7 million that Community Foundation fundholders made in 2018 was preceded by at least some thought as to what each donor hoped to accomplish. We hope grants like these, whether done in partnership with a community foundation or not, serve as an inspiration to all New Jerseyans to not only give back, but also think about what types of positive changes they would like to see in their communities.
Giving Tuesday provides a quick and easy way to do that and we are sincerely pleased that countless New Jerseyans participated. But if you woke up on Wednesday seeking to do a little bit more, our state’s community foundations and nonprofit organizations will be open, as they are every day, eager to work with any New Jerseyan seeking to make a positive, long-term difference.