If you loved our Positivity Promise, you’re going to love what social media has in store for us today: Giving Tuesday. To combat the shopping frenzies and general consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, NYC based 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation announced in 2011 that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving would be an official concentrated effort to kick off the season of giving. On this day, nonprofits – with the help of participating media publications – takeover social media with hook activism to promote and celebrate charitable giving.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Giving Tuesday and although its recognition isn’t quite that of Black Friday’s, donation processors show it is growing at an exponential rate. Last year, 116 million dollars were raised on just that day with over 700,000 people participating and everyone looks forward to even larger donation margins this year.

Giving Tuesday relies heavily on our social media involvement and collaboration. You can join the movement across all social platforms employing the hashtag #GivingTuesday or even #UNselfie, which is a fun way to take a selfless selfie. The rules of the #UNselfie are simple. Take a picture of yourself with a sign and/or caption explaining how you plan to give this year and share with your network. Voilà: a selfless selfie! As special as social media engagement is for today, there’s an even bigger way to make your gift count. Many local organizations are matching donations such as Bread for the City, the National Parks Conservation Association, GlobalGiving Foundation, and even Food & Water Watch, which is matching every gift 3 to 1! On Giving Tuesday, every gift counts that much more.

Giving Tuesday is perhaps one of the greatest examples of the power we hold when we unite behind a common goal and how social media can be the best platform to unite on. Similar to our Positivity Promise campaign that we launched last Monday, today will be all about raising awareness about how you can give back locally and globally to make our world a better place. Whether you’re passionate about guaranteeing welfare for all animals, finding a cure to cancer, or promoting international fair trade agreements, Giving Tuesday is the day to start making this time of the year truly the season of giving.