by Patheresa Wells

Have you ever been in line for coffee and when you pull up to the window to pay, you find that a stranger paid? It’s such a simple act of kindness, yet that is where the joy comes from, how easy it is to give. GivingTuesday, held on Nov. 30 this year, centers on this idea of “radical generosity” — defined by the GivingTuesday organization as “[t]he concept that the suffering of others should be as intolerable to us as our own suffering.” 

The idea for the day was created at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City in 2012. Despite its humble beginnings, the day has grown into a collaborative global initiative involving millions of people who give each year. GivingTuesday is now its own nonprofit that rallies us to share in the spirit of giving routinely. According to The GivingTuesday, 2020 Impact Report, last year nearly 16 million Americans donated a total of $503 million. Worldwide, the donations went to over 75 countries. And the money isn’t all big gifts, donations from small donors increased by 10% in 2020.