By Nicolas Cesare

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November 28 is Giving Tuesday, an internationally recognized holiday dedicated to charitable causes recognized after the post-Thanksgiving weekend. It's easy to celebrate—just find a charity that's important to you and donate an amount you're comfortable with.

Read on to learn more about this holiday and how you can make the most difference with your donations.

What Is Giving Tuesday?

Giving Tuesday happens every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The holiday asks us to consider the money we spend throughout the holidays and think about how much good it could do in a charity's hands after shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

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While Giving Tuesday is not a national holiday—you won't get time off work or hear a speech from the White House about it—it's still unofficially celebrated across the world.

The day is promoted by GivingTuesday, an organization founded in 2012 at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City. The group promotes radical generosity, a concept that others' suffering should be just as intolerable as our own suffering and that we can and should end that suffering by donating to charitable causes.

Donation Tips for Giving Tuesday

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Giving Tuesday is all about making your money count and having a real impact on others' lives. Use these tips to make the most out of this holiday.

Think About the Issues Important to You

What matters to you? Use this question to guide your charitable giving this Giving Tuesday.

Think about the issues impacting your community or challenges that you have personally experienced. With these ideas in mind, search for charities whose missions match your interests.

Explore Local Charities

Giving Tuesday is a big holiday for charities. You may have already seen emails or social media posts from local charities you follow.

Donating to charitable organizations in your area lets you help your community. You can see the impact of your donation in person. You may also have direct personal relationships with people benefiting from your generosity.

Evaluate Charities Before You Donate

Not all charities are equal. Some are better run than others, and your money can make more of a difference in their hands.

Fortunately, nonprofit organizations must submit their financial information for public scrutiny. You don't need to dig up each charity's tax filings over the past decade. Instead, look to charity monitoring organizations and see what they have to say about the causes you want to support.

Some popular charity watchdogs include:

• Charity Navigator
• GuideStar
• Charity Watch
• Great Nonprofits
• Give.org from the Better Business Bureau

Don't Limit Yourself to Monetary Donations

Money helps charitable organizations, but it's not the only way to support them, especially if you're considering local charities.

If you can't find the budget to donate this Giving Tuesday, contact the charities you want to help and ask about nonfinancial support. Many charities accept in-kind donations and nonfinancial gifts that align with their mission like winter clothes for refugees new to your area's colder climate.

You could also donate your time and energy if that's what your charity needs. A helping hand in the office or in the field can go just as far as a check in many cases.

Be Mindful of Giving Tuesday Scams

Unfortunately, some individuals will use holidays like Giving Tuesday or issues like the Russia-Ukraine War to push fraudulent charities. Barry McCarthy, President and CEO of Deluxe, recently wrote for Newsweek about identifying and avoiding these scams.

He recommends:

• Avoiding pop-up ads for Giving Tuesday. These ads can take you anywhere, including fraud websites. Instead, navigate directly to your chosen charity's website to donate.
• Avoiding social media links, even if they come from people you trust. People can accidentally donate to a fraud charity, not realizing that it's fake. Then they unwittingly proliferate that scam by sharing their donation on social media.
• Donating your credit card rewards directly to charity if your credit card provider allows it. This lets you bypass potential security flaws since you go directly through your credit card company and not a third-party service payment processor.

Don't let scammers stop you from doing good this Giving Tuesday. Find reliable charities and use this opportunity to do good.

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