People in Slovakia showed their generosity. In an emergency, they donated more than 25,000 euros in a day
The donation marathon #GivingTuesdayNow, which people from Slovakia ran in their living rooms, exceeded all expectations. According to our data, a total of 25,425 euros was collected in one day to support civic organisations fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the 5th of May, people in Slovakia had the opportunity to express solidarity through a global initiative #GivingTuesdayNow emerged in reaction to the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed was to highlight charitable projects which are threatened by the crisis. “In 24 hours, more than 25,000 euros were raised through the donation marathon. This number surprised us pleasantly, as people in Slovakia had already shown great generosity in the fight against COVID-19 through various other initiatives,” said Martina Kolesárová, Executive Director of the Pontis Foundation.
The organisation which collected the most donations during the marathon through Darujme.sk or DobraKrajina.sk also received a bonus of 500 euros. “The order of the “competing” projects was tight throughout the day. The organisations were mobilising their donors until the last minute. In the end, the civic association NepočujúceDieťa.sk (tr. Child with Hearing Impairment) received the bonus, as it had collected a total of 3,040 euros,” said M. Kolesárová. Second in the number of donations came the Cesta von (tr. Way out) association with their Omama project. Finally, in third place was the organisation RED NOS Clowndoctors working to launch online clown visits for hospitalised children.
People in Slovakia did not shy away from donating their social network space
#Výzva55 (transl. #Call55) also resonated during the special donation day entitled #GivingTuesdayNow. With reference to the date of the 5th of May, people in Slovakia had an opportunity to support non-profit initiatives other than financially. The number of shared contributions in which people could draw attention to charitable projects exceeded 600 on Instagram. The Institute for the Support and Development of Youth V.I.A.C. in Trstená with their 152 shares with hashtag #Výzva55 (transl. #Call55) earned a bonus of 500 euros. The organisation To Children with Cancer was in honorary second place with 134 contributions.
People in Slovakia did not shy away from showing their creativity through social networks. “The essence of the challenge was to come up with an activity which refers to the number 55 or 5.5. People left their comfort zone and did surprising things to draw attention to good projects,” says M. Kolesárová. “For example, some people practised 55 concert beats, mixed their face cream from 5.5 grams of ingredients, folded 55 protective shields for paramedics, sawed 55 logs, and learned 55 gestures of sign language,” she adds.
Many celebrities also joined in the call. Host Michal Sabo trained and collected garbage, both for 55 minutes, to draw attention to the activities of the Modrý anjel (transl. Blue Angel) organisation which provides free support to victims of tragic events and their relatives. Actress Zuzana Vačková decided to accept the challenge and jump 55 times to help the civic association Nezábudka (transl. Forget-me-not), which helps families with disadvantaged children and adolescents. Fashion designer Rivica sewed 55 face masks, donating the entire amount of their sales to the organisation RED NOS Clowndoctors.
