A call to action on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday
Today is Giving Tuesday. It’s a day touted as a “global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world”.
GivingTuesday was initiated in 2012 by Henry Timms at the 92nd Street Y in New York. The co-founding organization was the United Nations Foundation, with support from BLK SHP (Black Sheep). In its first eight years, GivingTuesday was housed in the 92nd Street Y’s Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact. In June 2019, GivingTuesday split off from 92Y to become an independent organization, with Asha Curran serving as CEO.
Giving Tuesday always fall 5 days after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and is the culmination of the holiday shopping season kick off that begins with Black Friday.
World Loyalty Giving Day
Fueled by a passion to create benefit and good for those in need, Brian Almeida and his team based in Mumbai India, founded Points for Good., an organization focused on the causes listed in the UN sustainable development goals. To date, Points for Good has facilitated the donation of over 100 million reward points towards social causes including child literacy, girl child education, health projects in Cancer, support for the elderly and aged, animal welfare, health and sanitation and many others.
During 2024, Brian approached us with an idea that could transform the world of Customer Loyalty. That idea has become World Loyalty Giving Day and today is that day. World Loyalty Giving Day was created to mobilize brands and customers to become more purpose driven through points donation and thought leadership.
The initiative has the support of GivingTuesday, and the Founding Partners represent the organizations leading the development of cause-related marketing in the customer loyalty industry. We are proud to have support from:
You can read the complete backstory of World Loyalty Giving Day to better understand its purpose and objectives, as well as find resources and testimonials from around the loyalty marketing industry here.
How Can You Support World Loyalty Giving Day?
By supporting World Loyalty Giving Day, you are showing support for Giving Tuesday. Whether you donate in support of a cause that matters to you using cash or loyalty points doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that you pause for a moment in the heat of the holiday giving season and show support for a cause that matters to you.
- If you operate a loyalty program, please let your members know about the opportunity to donate their points/miles/stars/anything to the cause of their choice.
- If you are a loyalty program member, you can donate points through one of the Founding Partner channels listed above or take advantage of charitable giving options offered by your favorite loyalty programs.
- Everyone in our industry can post online in support of World Loyalty Giving Day. If you do, please use the hashtags #DonateYourLoyaltyPointsDay and #DYLPD.
What’s Next?
2024 is the first World Loyalty Giving Day. We have focused on building awareness for the concept and organizing a strong team to build with for the future. We know this event has the potential to unify the customer loyalty industry and show the world how loyalty programs help brands become more purpose-driven and deliver good for members and their favorite causes.
A poignant part of the GivingTuesday origination story is the role of the BLK SHP. Their own founding story is best expressed in this short video. In that story, you will hear that a BLK SHP is someone who is willing to risk taking an original path in life, who understands that nothing is perfect, and risks being human to accomplish big goals.
We are working in a similar pattern. Recognizing the value of this cause, we agreed to host World Loyalty Giving Day. With limited time and resources, we are building awareness and launching this campaign with the belief that it will flourish in the future.
Many of the executives we speak with believe that loyalty programs are in need of refreshment. The regulators in several geographies are casting more scrutiny towards loyalty program operations.
World Loyalty Giving Day will not only create a magnitude of good in the world through donation of loyalty currency but provides the opportunity for our industry to unify around a cause and express the value that it brings to customers, brands, and stakeholders of every profile.
At The Wise Marketer, we are ALL IN FOR GOOD. Please join us today – and each day going forward.