IsraelGives seeks world donor record on GivingTuesday
The social initiative offers an alternative to the rampant culture of consumerism characterized by US post-Thanksgiving super sales.
By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZIUpdated: NOVEMBER 30, 2015 00:17A ‘Zealous8:2’ project participant visits an Ethiopian community center as part of her service(photo credit: Courtesy)
GivingTuesday Israel called on the public to help it break the global record for single-day charitable online giving on Tuesday, when the country will take part in a global initiative along with the US and other countries to try to set a new world record.The social initiative, which is a response to the largest US sales days – Cyber Monday and Black Friday – offers an alternative to the rampant culture of consumerism characterized by US post- Thanksgiving super sales.Launched in 2012 in the US, the campaign aims to encourage the public to donate, volunteer and promote social causes online on the first Tuesday after the two largest commercial days of the shopping year.Following its tremendous success in the US, the campaign has expanded to 12 other countries including Canada, Australia, Singapore, Mexico and Israel.IsraelGives, the main website for charitable giving to Israel, brought the GivingTuesday campaign to Israel.“As a global movement for giving, GivingTuesday is powered by people who want to give back to their communities,” said Yonatan Ben-Dor, CEO of IsraelGives.“In Israel, where giving is part and parcel of our culture and values, there’s no telling how much we can raise for our homegrown non-profit organizations,” he said.Though GivingTuesday raised a record $46 million globally last year (a 63% increase over 2013), the popularity of the grassroots movement and increased participation by non-profit organizations in other countries aims to make the 2015 campaign the most successful to date.Israel’s 2014 GivingTuesday campaign alone raised more than a million NIS for Israeli causes in a single day, and organizers predict drastic growth thanks to the first-ever synchronization of the national and global giving campaigns.“We call on every Israeli citizen to join this global movement for good and help us paint a much more accurate picture of Israel than that which is commonly portrayed by the international media. In addition to being a part of a world record, every Israeli donor will help solidify our image as a generous, altruistic, and compassionate nation,” said Ben-Dor.
Since its founding in 2009, IsraelGives is set to reach a charitable giving milestone of its own on GivingTuesday – with NIS 100 million raised for Israeli non-profit organizations via IsraelGives.org.“Over the last six years, we have helped to transform the culture of public giving in Israel. Instead of relying solely on donors from abroad, Israelis have stepped up to take care of their own,” he said. “Our small social business is proud to be sending over 40 million NIS this year to Israeli non-profit organizations, more than almost any company in Israel.”