How can you join #GivingTuesday? We bring you ten tips

1. Donate to your favorite non-profit organisation and accelerate the good.

The easiest way to get involved in #GivingTuesday is to donate to an organisation. If you have a favourite one, see if it has a payment gateway or an account number published on its website, and support it with even if just a few small euros. If bank information is not public, contact the organisation. If you do not have a favourite non-profit, but you would like to help anyway, take a look at the page #GivingTuesday Slovakia, where you will find the so-called Accelerator of Good Deeds. It is a tool that will help you choose an organisation by focus, region or randomly.

2. Donate materially if you can.

If you want to get involved in a different way, you can do many other things. Clothes that have been in your wardrobe for years can help homeless people. Unread books will delight people at the local library. You can also donate old furniture to crisis centres. Contact local organisations that help people without homes, crisis centres, or social services homes and find out what they need most. If you do not know who to contact, you can easily filter out organisations that lack material help in our Accelerator of Good Deeds.

3. Donate your time and do a good deed.

If you want to help in a more personal way, a great way is to donate your time. Contact your local animal shelter and help take the dogs out or clean them. Spend the day with clients of care homes. Some of them miss human interaction the most. Contact the organisations to find out if they need manual help, for example with the renovation of their premises. There are many ways how to get involved. If you cannot choose, look at the #GivingTuesday Slovakia website to find which organisations may need your time.

4. Prepare Christmas boxes.

Many families cannot afford to have a generous Christmas, or they may be in a difficult situation. Unfortunately, some children grow up without parents. You can help make these people feel a little better during the holiday season. Prepare Christmas packages for them. Contact your local crisis centre or children’s care home and find out what would be the best gift idea. You can get inspired by last year’s story.

5. If you are an entrepreneur, donate part of your profits to a good cause.

Do you produce something that you resell or own a store? Donate part of your daily or weekly revenue for a good cause. Choose an organisation and support it. Of course, it is important to talk about this activity so that your customers know that they support a good idea with their purchases. You can be inspired by stories from previous years of #GivingTuesday. Influencer Surová dcérka donated 50% of her daily profit from the sale of her book to a dog shelter Topoľčianske packy. Martina Šedlbauer donated her four paintings to the auction and the profits went to organisations at the Dobrá krajina (tr. Good Country) web portal.

6. Help comfotably from home and try virtual volunteering.

Virtual and expert volunteering is becoming increasingly popular. Are you good at something? Do you do accounting, know languages, marketing, design or coding? These and much other expertise will be appreciated by many of the organisations. You can perform the vast majority of these activities via a computer from the comfort of your home. Contact your favourite organisation and ask if they need your help, or take a look at the #GivingTuesday Slovakia webpage and donate your expertise.

7. Help your neighbours and strengthen your community.

Your neighbours can certainly use your help as well. The benefit of such support is that it helps strengthen the community and also reciprocity. Post a notice that you are offering help. Contact senior neighbours to help them with their shopping or spend the day with them. Bake a cake and then offer it to your neighbours to make their day!

8. Create a sharing box.

You can support the community by creating a sharing box, in which you can store books or even long-lasting food. You can also organise a community fridge to give food to those who need it. For example, the Helpi organisation provides and installs such boxes if you can take care of their daily maintenance. If you are interested in such a box, please contact info@helpi.org.

9. Raise awareness about #GivingTuesday.

The idea of #GivingTuesday is simple, very catchy, and resonates with many people. The more people know about #GivingTuesday, the more good deeds they will do. Since #GivingTuesday was created as an experiment on social networks, this is where it works best. Share your good deeds on Facebook or Instagram and tag #GivingTuesday, #MozemPomozem and @givingtuesdaysk.

10. Even a small favour can make a real impact.

Sometimes we do not have the time or capacity to come up with and organise more help. #GivingTuesday, however, is also about small good deeds. Praise someone, support each other, thank each other. You also do good by simply smiling. Kindness and willingness are an integral part of our lives, let’s celebrate them together.