Charitable giving gets its own day

Thanksgiving weekend was about spend, spend, spend. Today it's about give, give, give.

"Giving Tuesday," a movement debuting hot on the heels of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, encourages charities to step up their fundraising efforts and the public to think of others, largely through social media.

The initiative counts more than 2,100 organizations as partners, including about 100 in the Bay State, several of which said Giving Tuesday virtually eliminates the need for year-end appeals.

"This is perfect timing — 40 percent of our annual support comes in November and December," said Melanie Sheffield, director of advancement for the Animal Rescue League of Boston, which appointed former hopeFound executive director Mary Nee as its new president yesterday. "It would be amazing to see this become part of the vernacular."

The concept was spearheaded by officials at New York's 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation. A bevy of corporations and nonprofits also serve as founding partners, including J.C. Penney, Sony Electronics, United Way, Simon Malls and the Bridge-span Group.

Given the social media implications behind the initiative, organizers officially refer to Giving Tuesday by its Twitter hashtag, #GivingTuesday.

"I think it is a fresh, creative idea that is harnessing both the American spirit of generosity and the power of social media to build a movement," said Thomas Tierney, chairman and co-founder of the Bridgespan Group. "By drawing attention to 'giving' we both recognize and reinforce the public spiritedness that makes America so special — and provides so much value to our communities."

Giving Tuesday also helps the mission statements of smaller nonprofits be heard better, said Laura Winig, executive director of Wellesley-based Venturing Out, a Massachusetts partner.

"Particularly with us, given our size, we don't really float to the top for many people, so for us to get attention we actually thought it might be kind of nice to have that wrapped into a more formal and better-known undertaking than just ours," she said.

Jessica Orndorff, development officer for community programs at the Joslin Diabetes Center — which raised $1.5 million during National Diabetes Month — said she hoped the movement would gain momentum as fundraising is already on people's minds given the time of year.

"At the end of the calendar year, you're going to be making an extra effort or extra appeal to make a gift," she said. "This is a great way to put it on the calendar of the general public."

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