Pledge 1% Community

Michelle Fifis · 6 hours ago

GivingTuesday is the one day each year built entirely around generosity, and it’s a chance for your organization to show what business can do as a force for good. This guide provides strategies and program ideas for GivingTuesday initiatives that put your pledge into action. Whether you’re a small startup or a global enterprise, you’ll find practical ways to engage your team, support your community, and activate your equity, profit, product, and time pledge.

This resource covers:

History of GivingTuesday
The Importance of GivingTuesday
Program ideas and examples from other Pledge 1% members
Pledge 1% graphics for your use

History of GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday, observed annually on the Tuesday after US Thanksgiving, launched in 2012 at the 92nd Street Y in New York as a response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. What began as a single day of giving has grown into a global generosity movement with 75 country movements and more than 240 local communities and coalitions across the US. In 2025, 38.1 million people in the US took part, giving an estimated 4.0 billion dollars and with 11.1 million volunteering, up 20% from the year before. In 2026, GivingTuesday falls on December 1. Read more here.

The Importance of GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday is a day for members to take clear action on their pledge. It’s public, it’s low-lift, and it gives your team a shared moment to be part of something bigger.

It’s also good for your business. In a Benevity study of more than 2 million employees at 118 companies, employees who donated and volunteered through their workplace had 12% turnover, compared with 28% for those who did neither. A well-run GivingTuesday program can be the first step toward that kind of engagement.

GivingTuesday is also a Pledge 1% tradition. Every year members share their impact story through the Pledge 1% Gives campaign. In 2025, members shared 47 stories from 12 countries.

Program Ideas

GivingTuesday offers endless opportunities for creative programming. By aligning your efforts with your company's mission, values, and goals, you'll drive engagement and create a compelling, clear narrative for your leadership, team, and customers. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Giving & Matching

A donation match is one of the simplest ways to double your team's impact on GivingTuesday.
Some ideas include:

Match employee donations made on GivingTuesday dollar-for-dollar and share a live tally throughout the day.
Offer employee-choice grants that let each team direct a portion of your company's 1% to a nonprofit they choose.
Give every employee a giving credit to donate to the cause of their choice.
If you've pledged equity, use GivingTuesday to share why you made that commitment and the impact it will fund.

Example: Pledge 1% member Canva matches employee donations to nonprofits dollar-for-dollar, up to $3,300 USD per person each year. In 2025, Canvanauts donated $390k USD, and with Canva's match, nearly $758k USD went to nonprofits.

Community Impact

Giving your team time to serve together builds connection that lasts long after the day is over. Some ideas include:

Offer paid volunteer time off (VTO) on GivingTuesday so employees can serve a local nonprofit.
Organize a team service project, in person or virtual, with a nonprofit partner in your community.
Launch a company-wide challenge where employees pledge a set number of volunteer hours or donations by year-end.
Host a donation drive for items such as coats, food, or school supplies with a local partner.

Education & Reflection

Helping employees understand the causes you support turns a one-day effort into lasting commitment. Some ideas include:

Host a lunch and learn with a nonprofit partner about the cause they serve and how employees can help year-round.
Run a "Why I Give" employee spotlight series on Slack or social media.
Share your company's impact from the past year so employees see what their giving and time made possible.

Product & Industry Leadership

Your product and expertise can be your most powerful giving tools. Some ideas include:

Donate or discount your product for nonprofits and announce it on GivingTuesday.
Run a skills-based sprint where a team lends 2 to 4 hours of marketing, data, or design expertise to one nonprofit.
Add a round-up or give-back option to your product so customers can join your GivingTuesday campaign.

Example: On GivingTuesday 2025, Pledge 1% member Circle shared the launch of the Circle Foundation as part of the Pledge 1% Gives campaign, putting its equity pledge into action.

Ideas for Small Teams

You don’t need a big budget or a large team to make GivingTuesday count. These ideas work for companies of any size:

Amplify a nonprofit partner’s GivingTuesday campaign on your company’s social channels.
Have your founder or CEO donate one hour of mentoring or advice to a nonprofit leader.
Add a giving link to your newsletter or email signature for the week.
Pick one local nonprofit as a team and each give what you can, then share the combined total.

Looking for Additional Ideas?

Consider using tools like Claude, ChatGPT, or other AI resources to brainstorm customized ideas for your industry or organization. Here are a few prompts that may spark creativity:

"Our organization is in [insert your industry] with [insert team size] employees, and we'd like to run a GivingTuesday program. Can you suggest a plan for the week leading up to it?"
"Write a Slack announcement inviting employees to join our GivingTuesday donation match."
"How can we turn GivingTuesday into a year-round giving habit for our team?"

These prompts can help you develop a tailored plan that resonates with your customers, engages your team, and celebrates the power of giving together.

Pledge 1% Graphics

Your organization is invited to add the Pledge 1% logo to your GivingTuesday announcements.

Join the Conversation!

Share your story in the Pledge 1% Gives campaign! On GivingTuesday, December 1, we’ll feature member stories across our blog and social channels. Tell us how your company is giving: a donation match, volunteer time, product donations, or a new program. Small and first-time programs are welcome. Keep an eye out for submission openings in the Pledge 1% community and your inbox.

Have questions or ideas to share? Drop a comment below. Let’s work together to make this GivingTuesday our biggest yet! 💚