Created by the 92nd Street Y and led in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, #GivingTuesday is a growing movement to create a national day of giving at the start of the holiday season. The first Giving Tuesday generated a 50 percent increase in online giving. The White House, Bill Gates, the Clinton Foundation, and the mayors of Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York have all championed #GivingTuesday.
This year, local museums and other arts and cultural institutions in Southern California urge Angelenos to support art and culture by participating in #GivingTuesday, which falls on December 3, 2013.
Members of SoCalMuseums, including the Getty, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Natural History Museum are joining their colleagues in the performing arts, including the Music Center and L.A. Stage Alliance, to spread the word about #GivingTuesday.
After they’ve been to the malls on Black Friday and shopped online on Cyber Monday, Angelenos are encouraged to visit the websites of their favorite arts and cultural institutions and make a gift online.
“The message is simple: support the arts and culture on Giving Tuesday,” said James Cuno, President and CEO of the Getty, which spearheaded the effort to raise #GivingTuesday’s profile in the Southland. “If we all join together, Giving Tuesday will become as entrenched and lucrative as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, except the gifts made on Giving Tuesday will last longer and have a greater impact than this year’s must-have gadget.”
“At its core, Giving Tuesday is about community and generosity. It’s fantastic to see the Southern California arts community coming together to celebrate the profound impact of culture this holiday season,” said Henry Timms, Interim Executive Director of 92nd Street Y, a Jewish community and cultural center in New York that reaches out to people of all backgrounds, and creator of #GivingTuesday.