Social Media Giving Day

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Social Media Giving Day is an online holiday created by St. Louis-based technology and social philanthropy organization Givver.com.[ citation needed ] Givver spent 5 months working with elected officials around the country, charitable organizations, and social media influencers to promote the day as a way to use social media for social good and to leverage social media as a means to hashtag "give" to their favorite charity or cause. [1] Governors and Mayors around America declared July 15 "Social Media Giving Day". The online holiday was trail-blazed by the founder of Givver, Chris Sommers. [2] [ better source needed ] The inaugural celebration of Social Media Giving Day occurred on July 15, 2013. [2] This day was marked as the first social media giving day in the U.S. Furthermore, July 15 is also significant because it happens to be the same day Twitter was launched. [3] [ better source needed ] Social Media Giving Day can help reach new donors and help bring in more money to different organizations trying to better their communities.

Procedure

Using Twitter, a donor may send a tweet with the hashtag "Give" along with the name of their preferred charity. The tweet also includes the dollar amount desired by the sender. One limitation is that the charitable organization must be on Givver's approved list. [4] However, once an organization is on the approved list, they can use social media to diversify the organizations revenue.

Mayoral and Gubernatorial Declarations

Mayoral and gubernatorial declarations establishing July 15 as Social Media Giving Day have been made by Governor Jay Nixon (Missouri), Mayor John Sorey (Naples, FL), Mayor Buddy Dyer (Orlando, FL), Mayor Nancy McFarlane (Raleigh, NC), Mayor Mark Mallory (Cincinnati, OH), Mayor Tom Barrett (politician) (Milwaukee, WI), Mayor Jacques Roy (mayor) (Alexandria, LA), Mayor Sam Kooiker (Rapid City, SD), Mayor Francis Slay (St. Louis, MO), Mayor Dan Snarr (Murray, UT) and the entire City Council in Pittsburgh, PA. [3] Social Media Giving Day has therefore not been fully recognized nationally yet.

Philanthropic Impact

According to data obtained in 2013, 47 percent of Americans learn about causes through social media. [5] [ better source needed ] Additionally, 59% of Generation Z are willing to donate to charity because of social media. [6] On July 15, 2013, Givver saw a 30 percent increase in the number of donors alone. Social Media Giving Day, therefore, serves as an opportunity for various political campaigns, non-profit organizations, and charity organizations to appeal to social media's users to donate towards their causes. These causes include animals, children, health and wellness, human rights, disaster relief, poverty and hunger. The non-profits that benefited from this holiday have increased ten-fold. [7]

Ethical Issues

Many experts have warned that scams could take place during the holiday that can ultimately jeopardize the user's account on Twitter. [8] Such scams, could be used to steal private information from the user through different claims for a "beneficial cause", such as profile passwords, credit card accounts, etc. [8] [ better source needed ] This information is acquired by Givver when signing members up to their online database. Part of this member sign-up includes the storing of credit card information on the platform. [9]

Giving Tuesday, which is celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, also celebrates a day of charitable giving through social media, and attempts to promote online giving during the Christmas holiday season. [10] Its partners include the CECP, the Giving Institute, Giving USA Foundation, Dorothy A. Johnson Center on Philanthropy, and the Huffington Post. [10]

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References

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  2. 1 2 AnydayGuide. "Social Media Giving Day / July 15, 2017". AnydayGuide. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
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  4. Smith, Katie. "Social Media Day and Givver". Social Factor. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  5. "12 Must-Know Stats About Social Media, Fundraising, and Cause Awareness". Nonprofit Tech for Good. 2013-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  6. "2018 Online Giving Statistics, Trends & Data: The Ultimate List of Giving Stats" . Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  7. "Hey, today is inaugural Social Media Giving Day". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  8. 1 2 "A Guide on 5 Common Twitter Scams | The State of Security". The State of Security. 2016-01-07. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  9. Smith, Katie. "Social Media Giving Day and Givver". Social Factor. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  10. 1 2 "#GivingTuesday".