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Buy less, give more: Push to donate to charities on Giving Tuesday

Why not give back this Christmas? Image: Getty
Why not give back this Christmas? Image: Getty

We’ve had Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Now, charities are calling for the other part of Christmas – giving – to be given the attention it deserves.

Giving Tuesday will be marked on Tuesday 3 December, and is expected to raise more than AU$730 million across 60 countries, with hundreds of Australian charities set to join the call for more charitable giving and volunteering.

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Last Christmas, around 3 million Australians were in need of support from already-stretched charities.

And as Australia recovers from its estimated $1.3 billion Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending glut, it’s time to think about how to help out other Australians and charities during one of the most expensive times of the year.

“Everyone has something to give, and Giving Tuesday is the day to do it,” said Giving Tuesday ambassador and former World Vision chief Tim Costello.

“We’re a prosperous nation, so instead of looking to ourselves, this is a great time to think of others.”

He described the day of giving as a “natural antidote” to the spending frenzy of the Christmas sales.

How do I donate?

The GivingTuesday website suggests four ways to give back: time, money, goods and voice.

And it has a list of the hundreds of charities involved.

Charities involved include the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, which hopes to raise $100,000 on Tuesday for a specialist microscope for children, while Knitted Knockers – a charity which makes knitted breasts for cancer survivors – is hoping for more funds to support the knitters.

The Beauty Bank, which supplies feminine hygiene and beauty products to women in need of support, is also hoping for $5,000 to keep the lights on.

Then there are charities like Anglicare which have sponsors pledging to double all donations made that day.

Denis Moriarty, managing director of social enterprise Our Community – which hosts donation platform GiveNow.com.au – said it will also be offering free support for charities wanting to get involved.

“We’re powered by a desire to help the country’s 600,000 not-for-profits and charities and to spread support for a fair go, and we think Giving Tuesday is the catalyst to turn that into action,” Moriarty said.

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