On December 2, 2025, 38.1 million Americans did something good. They donated money, gave away goods, volunteered, and spoke up for causes they love. By the end of the day, they had given $4.0 billion.
That was Giving Tuesday. On December 1, 2026, it’s your turn. Below are 12 Giving Tuesday fundraising ideas, real stories from groups that made them work, and tips to help your nonprofit, school, or church hit its goal.
What Is Giving Tuesday?
Giving Tuesday is a global day of generosity held each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. People give their time, money, goods, and voices to the causes they care about. It started in 2012 at New York’s 92nd Street Y, where the idea was born and incubated with the United Nations Foundation as an early partner.
The thinking was simple. The holidays already had Black Friday and Cyber Monday for shopping. Why not a day for giving? It caught on fast. Giving Tuesday now has grassroots movements in more than 110 countries. In the U.S., the 2025 total topped $4.0 billion, up 13% from 2024, according to GivingTuesday’s official 2025 results. Since 2012, it has generated $22.5 billion in giving.
When Is Giving Tuesday?
Giving Tuesday 2026 is Tuesday, December 1. It always falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, the day after Cyber Monday.
It also opens the giving season, the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve when donors are most generous. Holiday spirit and year-end tax planning both play a part.
The data backs it up. Nonprofits received 37% of their online revenue in December 2025, according to the M+R Benchmarks 2026 study. The last week of the year alone brought in 10%.
So, treat Giving Tuesday as the kickoff to your year-end push. The people you reach on December 1 are still deciding where to give on December 31.
Giving Tuesday Ideas to Raise Funds (& Spirits!)
A nonprofit, a school PTA, and a large church will each need a different plan. Pick the two or three ideas that fit your people and your capacity and do them well.
Here are all 12 at a glance:
- Launch a shoe drive fundraiser
- Partner with local businesses
- Create a social media challenge
- Host a matching gift campaign
- Start a peer-to-peer fundraiser
- Give a gift that gives back
- Celebrate a “Barefoot Tuesday” (for churches)
- Make it a school-wide challenge (for schools)
- Host a virtual event
- Create a one-click giving option
- Empower your team
- Spotlight a cause story
1. Launch a Shoe Drive Fundraiser
Last Giving Tuesday, 13.5 million Americans donated goods instead of cash. A shoe drive fundraiser taps right into that.
Here’s how it works. Your supporters donate gently worn, used and new shoes. Funds2Orgs picks them up and sends your organization a payment based on the total weight. The more you collect, the more you earn, with no cap.
No selling. No asking families for money. No candy bars. Just clean out closets for a good cause. Also, it’s free to start, and you get a fundraising coach, a welcome kit, and ready-made flyers and social media templates. Partners keep coming back, too. As longtime partner Lynn Bensing puts it: “We have been collecting shoes for over 10 years now!”
The impact reaches well beyond your community. Shoes go to micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries, many of them women, who resell them to support their families. And every pair stays out of a landfill.
2. Partner With Local Businesses
Local businesses like to be seen doing good, especially during the holidays. Giving Tuesday gives you a natural reason to ask.
Just ask the Forest Hills cheerleading team in Pennsylvania. Parent coordinator Kristen Turner admits their shoe drive fundraiser “was slow in the beginning.” Then the team signed up nine local businesses, two fire stations, and several schools as drop-off sites. Local newspapers and radio stations covered it, and the squad hit its goals. (Read the full story here.)
A few ways to partner with local businesses:
- Drop-off point: A gym, coffee shop, or shoe store can host a collection box for your shoe drive fundraiser.
- Dine-and-donate night: A local restaurant can give a percentage of the day’s sales to your cause.
- Business match: A local company can match every dollar raised, up to a set amount to provide a fundraising challenge to the community.
Thank your partners publicly in emails, social posts, and at events. They get good press, and you gain credibility.
3. Create a Giving Tuesday Social Media Challenge
A social media challenge turns your supporters into your marketing team. Ask them to post a photo or short video tied to your cause, tag your organization, and challenge three friends to do the same.
Keep it simple. For a shoe drive fundraiser, try a “shoe selfie” with the pair they’re donating. Add #GivingTuesday so your posts join the global conversation, then keep the challenge going all season.
Forest Hills learned this firsthand. Their fundraiser took off when they launched a dedicated Facebook page that parents and coaches shared across town.
4. Host a Matching Gift Campaign
Want to double a donation without asking the donor for another dime? Promote matching gifts.
Many employers match their employees’ charitable gifts. Yet 78% of donors don’t know whether their company has a matching program. An estimated $4 billion to $7 billion in matching funds goes unclaimed every year.
So, in every Giving Tuesday email and post, remind donors to check with their employer. You can also ask a board member or local sponsor to put up a match. The same research shows that 84% of donors are more likely to give when a match is offered.
5. Start a Peer-to-Peer Fundraiser
People trust their friends more than any organization. Peer-to-peer fundraising puts that trust to work.
Invite volunteers, board members, and loyal donors to set up personal fundraising pages or run their own mini shoe drives. Give each one a goal, a short story to share, and a Giving Tuesday deadline. A simple leaderboard adds friendly competition.
6. Give a Gift That Gives Back
Holiday shoppers are already buying gifts. Why not give them one that supports your mission?
Offer branded mugs, T-shirts, or journals, or partner with local artisans to sell handmade goods. Promote them as gifts that do double duty: something special for a loved one and support for your cause.
7. Celebrate a “Barefoot Tuesday”
This is one of our favorite Giving Tuesday ideas for churches. It’s based on Barefoot Sunday, a service where members donate their shoes, sometimes the very pair they wore that day, to reflect on their blessings and help others.
Bring that same spirit to Giving Tuesday. Host a Barefoot Tuesday gathering or invite your congregation to drop off shoes all week. Every pair raises funds for your church and helps a family on the other side of the world.
8. Make It a School-Wide Challenge
For Giving Tuesday ideas for schools, friendly rivalry is your secret weapon. Turn the day into a class-vs.-class competition.
Students collect shoes, coins, or pledges, with a running tally posted in the hallway or the school newsletter. The winning class earns a pizza party or a dress-down day.
School shoe drives are a natural fit for PTAs, from the East Rutherford PTA to the New York State PTA, which partnered with Funds2Orgs.
9. Host a Virtual Giving Tuesday Event
Virtual events are among the most accessible Giving Tuesday event ideas. Anyone can join from anywhere, and you skip the cost of a venue, catering, and rentals.
Try an online concert with a youth orchestra, a live Q&A with your executive director, or a short masterclass taught by a volunteer expert. Keep your donation link on screen the whole time.
10. Create a “One-Click” Giving Option
Every extra step on your donation page costs you, donors. One-click giving lets people give in seconds, right when they feel moved to.
Share a QR code at events and on printed materials. Add a text-to-give number. Test your donation form on a phone. Then put that link everywhere: emails, social posts, and your homepage.
11. Empower Your Team as Giving Tuesday Heroes
Your staff and volunteers are already your biggest fans, and you don’t need to ask them for money to get them involved. Invite each team member to lead a shoe drive fundraiser among friends and family, or join a team social media challenge.
It doubles as a service project. As a partner shared about her cheer team: “We were able to raise funds for our team as well as complete a service project collecting shoes for those in need.”
12. Spotlight a Cause Story
People give to people. So, on Giving Tuesday, tell one story at a time. Take Chris and Natalie LeMay. When the pandemic shut down their adoption from China, they pivoted to Liberia, where they found their son, Daniel. To help cover the costs, they ran a shoe drive fundraiser. Today, Daniel is home celebrating holidays and birthdays with his new family. (Read the LeMay family’s story.)
Stories like that stick. Feature a family you’ve served, a longtime volunteer, or a donor explaining why they give. One face and a few honest sentences will move more people than any annual report.
Tips for Bringing Your Giving Tuesday Ideas to Life
A great idea still needs a plan. Here’s how to turn yours into results.
Start Early
Start planning early and announce your campaign two to three weeks before Giving Tuesday. Send a “save the date” email, tease your goal on social media, and lock in matching gift sponsors early.
Set a Clear, Specific Goal
“Help us raise money” is forgettable. “Help us collect 1,000 pairs of shoes” gives supporters something to rally around. Post progress updates throughout the day.
Plan Your Email and Social Media Calendar
A simple plan: a teaser email the week before, a launch email that morning, a midday progress update, and a last-chance message that evening. Schedule social posts to match, and tailor each one to the platform.
Engage Your Champions
Ask board members, volunteers, and partners to share your campaign with their own networks. Make it easy by sending them ready-to-post captions, graphics, and your donation link.
Track, Thank, and Keep Going
Track which emails, posts, and channels drove gifts. Thank every donor within 48 hours, whatever the size of their gift.
Then keep going after December 1. Send Giving Tuesday donors a progress update, a volunteer opportunity, or an invitation to give monthly through year-end.
Giving Tuesday FAQs
How do you participate in Giving Tuesday?
Anyone can take part by donating money, giving goods, volunteering, or sharing a cause they care about on December 1, 2026. Organizations participate by running a campaign, such as a shoe drive fundraiser, matching gift challenge, or social media push, and promoting it with #GivingTuesday.
Is Giving Tuesday only about donating money?
No. In 2025, 13.5 million Americans donated goods, and 11.1 million volunteered on Giving Tuesday, according to Giving Tuesday’s official results. It’s why in-kind fundraisers, and not just giving money, fit the day so well.
What is the best Giving Tuesday fundraiser for a small nonprofit?
The best options cost little to run and don’t need a big staff. A shoe drive fundraiser, a matching gift challenge, and a social media challenge all work well for small teams because supporters do much of the work.
How early should you start planning a Giving Tuesday campaign?
Start planning as early as possible and begin promoting two to three weeks before Giving Tuesday. Line up sponsors and business partners early, since their calendars fill up fast during the holidays.
Can schools and churches take part in Giving Tuesday?
Yes. Schools often run class-vs.-class challenges led by their PTA, and churches can host a Barefoot Tuesday or a congregation-wide shoe drive. Any group that serves a community can join in.
Make This Giving Tuesday Your Best Yet
You don’t need a big budget or a large staff to make Giving Tuesday count. Pick one or two strong ideas, set a clear goal, and keep your supporters engaged through December 31.
Looking for a Giving Tuesday fundraiser that’s free to start and easy for everyone to join? A shoe drive is a great place to begin. Start your free shoe drive fundraiser today, or explore more fundraising ideas for nonprofits to round out your year-end plan.
Want more inspiration? Check out our webinars, eBooks, YouTube, or Facebook.
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