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Need ideas for how you can give back on GivingTuesday? We’ve got you!
Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor out, or showing up for an issue or people we care about, we each have something to contribute. Identify your gifts, pick a cause that gets you fired up, and give back on November 29 for GivingTuesday.
In Your Neighborhood
1, Create a donation station. Leave extra supplies (nonperishable food, OTC medicines, cleaning products) for your neighbors in a common area.
2. Add some books to your Little Free Library, can’t find one? Start one!
3. Anonymously leave a bag of groceries at the door step of someone you know who might be struggling financially.
4. Stock up your community fridge. You could also organize a pop-up free grocery store, or feed neighbors who are hungry.
5. Make an extra lunch for your someone while you make your own.
6. Leave a gift card or cash at your local gas pump.
7. Send a gift card for food to your fire and paramedic station.
8. Add some new plants to your community garden…or start one!
9. Put together a volunteer group or neighborhood alliance and plan to fill a gap in your community.
At Your Workplace
10. Brew up a big pot of (good) coffee. Fill up some eco-friendly disposable cups. Offer free coffee to everyone at work — or the bus stop.
11. Host a free table. Free tables allow people to donate items as they can and take items they need.
12. Gather UNSELFIES and post on your company social media.
13. Start a book club. Read something that will inspire you to better your community.
14. Organize a company blood drive. There are many organizations that offer blood drive pop up options…just tell them when and where. Make sure your team knows the requirements to donate blood ahead of time.
15. Start off your day by sending out an email to help someone (that won’t necessarily benefit you directly). It could be a recommendation, an introduction, some constructive feedback, some encouragement or a helpful link.
16. Leave a platter of homemade treats in the common area of your office or apartment building. Extra credit: provide a list of ingredients (for folks who have food sensitivities).
17. Nominate someone for an award at something they excel at!
With Your Children
18. Make essentials bags filled with toiletries and snacks and give them away.
19. Write kindness notes to hand out to fellow students or send to your local nursing home.
20 Display an encouraging message or inspiring doodle in your window.
21. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or community pantry.
22. Make cookies for your neighbors.
23. Scavenger hunt. Hide treats that they will receive if they complete generosity tasks for others in their family or community.
24. Go through their closet with them and donate any extra clothes they’ve grown out of or don’t like anymore. Make sure they are still in a good condition for another child to enjoy!
25. Make some treats and have them give them out to the mail carrier or delivery person next time they ring your doorbell.
Amongst Friends
26 Have a food or essential items packing party and make care bags for unhoused citizens in your community
27. Have a virtual volunteering Zoom party. Get together with friends and sign up (in advance) to help out with some administrative needs they may have such as transcribing or translating documents for people or organizations in need. Bonus points: create a fun playlist for your friends!
28. Do a walking tour and leave #LoveNotes to your neighborhood.
29. Ben Franklin Circle for Dinner! Ben Franklin Circles are small conversation clubs inspired by Ben Franklin’s “junto” or “club for mutual improvement.” Circles meet regularly to explore the idea of civic virtue – using discussion topics like justice, order, generosity and empathy as windows into improving our individual lives and the world. Here is a quick and easy tool to organize a virtual Ben Franklin Dinner.
30. Commisison a public art installation. (See also: Blip billboards: low cost electronic billboards located across US and Canada).
31. Host a giving circle! Pool your resources or time to support a cause that you and your family or group of friends care about. Use this guide from Philanthropy Together to do a pop-up giving circle
32. Send some flowers to a friend you know has had a difficult time recently OR for no reason, except to brighten up their day.
33. Celebrate birthdays with donations. Create a fundraising or in-kind donation campaign for whoever in your friend group has their birthday up next. You can start it on GivingTuesday and end it on their birthday.
34. Make a playlist to pump up a friend’s day. Share the gift of music!
On Social Media
35. Share with your friends how you have chosen to give on GivingTuesday and inspire others!
36. Follow 10 grassroots organization social media accounts and post on your stories to provide visibility to the work they do.
37. Host of Virtual Open Mic/Comedy/Talent Night This can even take the form of residents who will come to share their ideas on how to mobilize for change in your community.
38. Gather Volunteer Opportunities and Make it Easy! Gather a list of organizations hosting volunteer opportunities available at year end and create an easy way for people to connect with organizations and sign up to give of their time and talents and learn about the amazing organizations in your community.
39. Start a GENEROSITY NOW challenge Encouraging friends and family to give back in various ways: donating, advocating, or volunteering can be as easy as a game of tag! Start a challenge for your community
40. #GlobalGivingVillage A concept from our leaders in India: A village is really a community that uplifts one another. Ask people to do an act of generosity by sharing how they give in their “village” — village being neighborhood, city, town, etc.
41. Share some articles that have shifted your mindset recently.
42. Go live and do a tutorial on something you are good at doing that you think others might be interested in learning more about.
43. Eat at a social enterprise restaurant and post about it!
At Your School
44. Host a diaper or food drive in your class.
45. Have a competition between classes in your grade and collect toiletries for a shelter.
46. Start a kindness wall with words of appreciation, encouragement and affirmations.
47. Be others-minded in small ways as much as possible. Open a door for someone, give a compliment, make eye contact, or smile.
48. Send a handwritten letter to someone, expressing how grateful you are for the positive impact they have made in your life.
49. Create Random Acts of Kindness Kits for your class. Drop in little notes of inspiration, include ideas on how to pay-it-forward, or include anything you want! Pass along 10 or 100! Get a team together, or encourage volunteers to create from their home. Kits can be passed out as a group in a chosen location, or…..randomly! The choice is yours.
50. Split chores to keep your classroom clean!
Share how you’ve been giving back on social media with hashtag #GivingTuesday and inspire others to join you! Find more ideas here.
Let’s cover the world in generosity on November 29.