Donors Give $3.1 Billion to Nonprofits on GivingTuesday This Year

In the first indication of how year-end giving will fare this year, GivingTuesday donations rose less than 1% on Tuesday. Despite the slight increase, 10% fewer donors participated this year — further evidence of the ongoing decline in donor engagement. 

The GivingTuesday Data Commons released the figures on Wednesday and noted more analysis of the data will be unveiled over the coming weeks.

“We are so inspired to see a show of generosity of this magnitude every year,” Asha Curran, GivingTuesday’s CEO, said in a statement. “Our goal with GivingTuesday, not just on the day itself but year-round, is to create an ecosystem of giving that helps communities, causes and organizations across the globe. However, we are concerned to see a decline in participation in line with giving trends from the past year. GivingTuesday’s mission is to inspire generosity among as many people as possible, not just raise as many dollars as possible. Generosity has such important correlations with civic participation, community cohesion and well-being.”

The annual giving day that falls on the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday — which the National Retail Federation estimated to have 182 million expected participants combined — debuted in 2012 as a day to encourage people to do good and donate to their favorite charities. The organization behind the movement supports the nonprofit sector year-round, with education and data, including the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. 

In 2022, year-end giving was under expectations, per the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. Giving was up 4.7% until the fourth quarter reversed the year’s trend to a 1.7% decline. Acquisition and retention rates were part of the issue. Major donors pulling back due to an anticipated recession also contributed to the decline.