Giving Tuesday takes place on 28 November 2023, the day after Cyber Monday. Now in its eleventh year, Giving Tuesday was set up as a charitable response to Black Friday. It offers people an opportunity to join a global movement of giving; encouraging them to donate their time or money for a good cause and support the charities they love.
Giving Tuesday holds a record for the most money raised online for charity in 24 hours. In 2020, donations worth £20.2 million were made on Giving Tuesday. There are plenty of ways you can get involved. Here are our top five tips about how you can support the charities you love and make the most of your charitable giving in time for Giving Tuesday 2023.
How to make the most of your giving for Giving Tuesday
1. Review your Giving Strategy
Before Giving Tuesday 2023, spend time reviewing your Giving Strategy. Reconsider your giving goals: the issues that are important to you and the charities you may like to support. You may want to consider specific global, national or local issues, that would benefit from your support. Use Stewardship’s CauseFinder to help you research causes that align with your giving aims and objectives. The more informed you are about a charity and its aims, the more confident you’ll feel that your giving during Giving Tuesday is making a real difference.
2. Build an emergency balance in your Stewardship Giving Account
Many of us may feel, “I’d love to give on Giving Tuesday, but I just don’t think I’ll have the money this year.” As well as helping you to organise your regular and one-off giving, your Stewardship Giving Account enables you to top up your account and build an emergency response balance that you can deploy at any time.
If you should hear about an emergency appeal, or a charity who needs some extra support throughout the year, knowing that you have the funds available to bless others in this way can be extremely freeing. Find out how to register for your Giving Account or, if you already have one, sign in and ‘top up’ your account to the required amount.
3. Tick the Gift Aid box
HMRC have reported that around £600m of Gift Aid goes unclaimed each year. Figures provided by the Charity Finance Group further reveal that almost a quarter of eligible donors are not taking advantage of the Gift Aid tax break. This means that charities are missing out on significant sums of money. Claiming Gift Aid can often be a burdensome process for the charities you love, often taking them weeks or even months to claim from HMRC. With a Stewardship Giving Account, you only need to tick the Gift Aid box once. We add it to your gifts instantly, so your chosen charities get an instant boost and don't have to spend time claiming it. If you are an eligible giver, sign in to your account before Giving Tuesday to make sure the Gift Aid box has been ticked. This will make sure the gifts you make will have the biggest possible impact.
4. Review your budget
As UK households continue to feel the squeeze of the cost-of-living crisis, there has never been a better time to track your finances and review your budgets. Our budget planner can help you see exactly where your money is going. It can help you identify if there are any areas of your budget that can be tweaked or tightened and help you make immediate changes to your finances that can help you give generously on Giving Tuesday without the worry that you are giving away too much or too little. Download Stewardship’s free Guide to Budgeting for more helpful principles on creating a budget to enhance your giving strategy.
5. Start building a giving portfolio
If you currently give to multiple charities, or are considering doing so, a Stewardship Giving Account is a simple, quick and easy way to build a giving portfolio. When you want to respond to an appeal, make a regular gift or cancel a standing order, there’s no need to add or manage your bank details on multiple church or charity websites. Bring all your giving into one place, so you can update it as often as you like.
Join a global movement of generosity
Giving Tuesday 2023 provides an opportunity for people to join a global movement of generosity, at a time that can otherwise feel focused on consumerism. We hope these five tips will help you to make the most of your charitable giving during Giving Tuesday this year.
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Matt Holderness
Matt joined Stewardship in 2022 with over twenty years of marketing experience from roles at Kendal College and Capernwray Bible School. He has degrees in Business and Marketing, Theology, Management and most recently a Masters in Hermeneutics.
Through raising awareness of Stewardship’s services, Matt helps people explore the impact their generosity can have on the church and Christian charities. He’s passionate about supporting Evangelism and Bible causes, and has a particular interest in charities that are helping people in Poverty and Debt in the UK.
