Giving Tuesday Raised $117M for Charities, Early Figures Show

Giving Tuesday, a charitable initiative that uses social media as its catalyst, raised nearly $117 million in online donations, a jump of 155 percent over last year, according to preliminary calculations exclusively provided to Reuters by the event's organizers.

In the 24 hours starting at midnight Eastern time on Tuesday, U.S. charities reported receiving 1.08 million donations.

"We are just so thrilled. The movement caught on last year, and it's here to stay," said Sheila Herrling, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Case Foundation, which financed the data analysis. "We had a lot of confidence that this would keep on rolling."