Giving Tuesday is Here!

Giving Tuesday is here!!!!

We love Giving Tuesday – the national movement to celebrate giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (and beyond).

As moms, we particularly love that Giving Tuesday encompasses all forms of giving, in whatever form works for you and your family, whether that means donating to charities, talking to your kids and involving them in charitable activities, volunteering your time, or getting your family, friends and larger networks involved in giving.

Giving Tuesday is a perfect match for moms.  As we found in The Motherhood’s third annual Giving Back and Social Good Survey of influential moms online (conducted in September 2012), 87% of moms say that giving back is very important to their families, and nearly 80% of moms find special ways to give back with their families during the holidays.

Additionally, 87% of moms would like ideas for ways to give back during the holidays.  And what better way to get ideas for giving than by joining the #GivingTuesday conversation happening across the web today!

For everyone wanting to learn more about and get involved in Giving Tuesday, The Motherhood has compiled just a few of the many ways you can dive in.

First, some of the great ways moms across the country are giving back on Giving Tuesday and beyond, as they shared during The Motherhood’s fabulous #GivingTuesday Twitter party:

For fantastic posts on the spirit and work behind Giving Tuesday, be sure to check out these links:

Henry Timms, deputy executive director of the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation – the two organizations who led the way to create Giving Tuesday –  talk to ABC News.

Aaron Sherinian, a founding organizer of Giving Tuesday and vice president of communications and public relations for the UN Foundation, talks to New England Cable News.

Chrysula Winegar, community manager for the Million Moms Challenge and leader of the #GivingTuesday team, wrote a beautiful post about finding your giving ‘superpower’.

Mashable’s Sharon Feder and the Story of #GivingTuesday

Morra Aarons-Mele posted about Giving Tuesday and ‘Marketing Without a Master’ for the Harvard Business Review.

Beth Kanter wrote a beautiful post titled, ‘Why I Am in the National Day of Giving on November 27, 2012’.

Isabel Kallman talked about her commitment to #GivingTuesday and experience in the Rockaways after Hurricane Sandy.

Asha Dornfest wrote on Babble Voices about Giving Tuesday as part of her Minimalist Parenting series.

Tracey Clark wrote a lovely post on ‘when we give, we are quite simply sending the message that we care.’

And, last but not least, a few more great ways to get involved in Giving Tuesday TODAY!

1.  Follow the fast-moving Twitter stream for #GivingTuesday (trending worldwide on Twitter)!

2.  Join the #GivingTuesday Google Hangout at 12:30 pm ET today with Kris Balderston, Special Representative for Global Partnerships at the State Department, and #GivingTuesday Founding organizers.  Tune into the #GivingTuesday YouTube channel to participate.

3.  Sign up for the #GivingTuesday Thunderclap.  At 2:30 pm ET, everyone who signs up will post a status update on their Facebook accounts and Twitter – and we’ll rock the social media landscape together!

4.  Join the Twitter party tonight, hosted by Mom It Forward, 9 – 10 pm ET.  Follow the hashtags, #GivingTuesday and #gno on Twitter to participate in a great celebration.

5.  Check out Cool Mom Picks’ favorite causes.

6.  Gabrielle Blair, Design Mom, is posting a gift guide that features products that ‘do good” (coming soon!).

All of us at The Motherhood are enormously proud to be a part of the Giving Tuesday team working behind the scenes to bring this big day into being.