After Black Friday & Cyber Monday...
December 1, 2015
MAYORS
TOOLKIT
GivingTuesday.ca | #GivingTuesdayCa
TOOLKIT: HOW TO REQUEST A MAYORAL PROCLAMATION FOR GIVINGTUESDAY
Thanks for being a part of GivingTuesday!
In this toolkit, you will find:








What is GivingTuesday?
What is a mayoral proclamation, why request one, what will GivingTuesday offer?
What have other cities done?
Steps to request a Mayoral Proclamation
Sample outreach email
Sample Mayoral Proclamation for GivingTuesday
2014 Highlights
Sample Press Release
We hope these materials will help you embrace GivingTuesday in a way that is most meaningful
to your organization and your city. Together, we are a powerful community.
The GivingTuesday Team
1
What is GivingTuesday?
GivingTuesday is a National Giving Day. Most people know about Black Friday and Cyber
Monday …now the third annual GivingTuesday is coming to Canada on December 1, 2015. It is a
new Canadian movement for giving and volunteering, taking place each year after Cyber
Monday. The “Opening day of the giving season,” it is a day where charities, companies and
individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favourite causes and think about
others.
“We have two days that are good for the economy. Now we have a day that is good for the
community too.”
2014 was the second year of GivingTuesday in Canada and the results were impressive.
According to data from CanadaHelps, the second annual GivingTuesday increased charitable
donations in Canada by 75% on top of the previous year’s GivingTuesday lift of 169%. As in
2013, charities that actively promoted GivingTuesday saw the greatest lift in donations, with an
average overall increase of 93% in number of donations received through CanadaHelps. And,
many Canadians committed to the ongoing work of a charity, with the number of new monthly
donations set-up using CanadaHelps increasing 84%.
The success of GivingTuesday depends on the collective efforts of a unique group of partners
and their participation. You are the most important part of making this movement a reality.
We have put together this toolkit for you in order to provide you with all the resources you
may need to have your Mayor proclaim December 1, 2015, as GivingTuesday - a “Day of Giving”
- in your city.
What is a Mayoral Proclamation?
Proclamations are typically issued by a Mayor to recognize the importance of a community
event, significant achievements by community members, or to signal a City’s role in significant
national events.
Proclamations may be read at a City Council meeting, or at a community event being
recognized, depending entirely on the schedule of the Mayor. Proclamations are often posted
on the City’s website. Original signed proclamations will be provided to the requesting party
(sometimes must be received in person at City offices).
Why request a Mayoral Proclamation in your City?




Opportunity to meet/greet/photo with your Mayor and/or other City representation
Become a GivingTuesday Ambassador for your City and help establish GivingTuesday as a
national day of giving
Help your City celebrate philanthropy, volunteerism and community service
Get your City government more involved in 2local causes
What will GivingTuesday offer your City?




The chance for citizens to give back to their community
Connect citizens to local causes
Build and strengthen partnerships across sectors
Tell your City’s giving stories to new audiences and bring attention to philanthropic
commitments during the holiday season
 The strength of a national “umbrella” and unified message that upholds and supports many
individual brands. GivingTuesday harnesses the power of a collective voice to make a
difference.
 The benefits of the giving community coming together under a common theme and set of
messages. Just as the retail world benefitted from coordinating national shopping days
across many brands and platforms, GivingTuesday does the same thing.
3
What have other cities done?
In 2014, several Canadian cities embarked on organized movements, including Halifax, Ottawa,
Guelph, Sarnia-Lambton, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver. Numerous mayors, from Halifax to
Vancouver, proclaimed December 2nd, 2014 as “GivingTuesday”. These civic movements
created a platform for a deeper level of engagement between charities, businesses and local
residents. One such group, GuelphGives, rallied with the mantra ONE CITY – ONE DAY – ONE
MILLION. Organizers celebrated GivingTuesday with various events around the city, all in
pursuit of a $1 million dollar giving goal. GuelphGives leaders announced on December 3, 2014
that total donations had reached over $1.2 million. This toolkit is based in part on the learnings
and successes of the GuelphGives initiative.
Cities across North America are making GivingTuesday proclamations and encouraging their
citizens to get involved. It’s a great way to make GivingTuesday work for communities and it’s
surprisingly easy. Last year, Canadian cities from coast to coast declared December 2 the official
GivingTuesday.
Sample city campaign: GuelphGives 2014
4
Steps to Request a Mayoral Proclamation for GivingTuesday
1) Visit your City’s website. Some City websites will have a section on “How to request a
Mayoral Proclamation.” Some will even have an online Mayoral Proclamation Request
section on their website. If they do not have an online request section, send an email
request to your Mayor- most Mayors will have their contact information, including their
email address on the City’s official webpage (sample email below).
2) If response is positive, they may request you to send a draft of a sample proclamation
(sample proclamation below).
3) They may invite you to attend a meeting to accept the proclamation on behalf of
GivingTuesday – this is a great photo opportunity! It would be great to invite other
GivingTuesday partners in the area to take part as well.
4) GivingTuesday ambassadors who spearhead the action to receive a Mayoral
Proclamation in their City are welcome to display the official Proclamation in their
organization.
5) Let us know about your success! Share your achievement with the GivingTuesday team
so we can help you spread the word about your City’s involvement.
5
Sample Outreach Email
The following email offers ideas and language you can use as part of your outreach to your
Mayor for GivingTuesday. Feel free to copy, paste or adjust as you see fit for your organization
as you communicate about your involvement with GivingTuesday.
GIVING TUESDAY: WHEN (INSERT NAME OF CITY) GIVES AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Dear __________,
This year, on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, we are part of a call to action that will change the
calendar and help make history. We are celebrating a day dedicated to giving -- when charities,
families, businesses, community centers, students, retailers and more will all come together for
GivingTuesday – a movement to celebrate giving and encourage more, better and smarter
giving during the Holiday Season that we are proud to be part of.
Last year, Mayors throughout North America formally endorsed GivingTuesday. The Prime
Minister and Governor General also publically supported GivingTuesday.
In 2014, more than 3,300 partners participated in Canada. Through the power of social media,
millions of people spread the word resulting in milestone trending on Twitter and we received
tens of millions of media impressions. The movement has also resulted in a significant increase
in donations to Canadian charities.
As a GivingTuesday partner from the City of _____________, we would like to respectfully
request that the City of ___________ officially proclaim December 1, 2015 as GivingTuesday.
The City of ____________ can really help to make GivingTuesday into something that will really
change the way we think about philanthropy and community service for generations to come.
The campaign provides a framework and ideas for people to choose their own best way to
contribute to their communities and will provide the citizens of _____________ with an
opportunity to share their giving stories.
For additional information, please visit our website at www.givingtuesday.ca.
It would be truly be an honor to have the City of __________ formally proclaim GivingTuesday
as a day of giving. Thank you for considering our request.
6
Sample GivingTuesday Proclamation
WHEREAS, Giving Tuesday was established as a national day of giving on December 1, 2015; and
WHEREAS, Giving Tuesday is a celebration of philanthropy and volunteerism where people give
whatever they are able to give; and
WHEREAS, Giving Tuesday is a day where citizens work together to share commitments, rally for
favorite causes, build a stronger community, and think about other people; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper on GivingTuesday and on every day to recognize the
tremendous impact of philanthropy, volunteerism, and community service in the City of XXX; and
WHEREAS, Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to encourage citizens to serve others throughout
this holiday season and throughout the year.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, XXX, Mayor of the City of XXX, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2015 as
GivingTuesday
in the City of XXX, and encourage all citizens to join together to give back to the community in any way
that is personally meaningful.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of XXX,
PROVINCE, to be affixed this 1sd day of December 2015.
7
GIVING
MORE
THAN
DECEMBER 2, 2014
AN AWESOME
YEAR #2!
Bigger, smarter,
better giving!
IMPACT ON
DONATIONS
charities and
businesses
Millions of
369%
increase
from 2012
169%
...GLOBAL IMPACT!
Barack Obama
and numerous
celebrities helped
Prime
Minister Stephen Harper
power GivingTuesday
Governor
General David Johnston momentum
President
68+
participated in 2014
26,000 partners
countries
and
opening day
for a season of giving
Commitments
for blood and
organ donation
Numerous food,
clothing, shoe drives
and acts of kindness
eg. 49 new organ donors
announced in Guelph alone
CIVIC MOVEMENTS
GROW GRASSROOTS
GuelphGives raised
GivingTuesday
partners saw
the greatest lift
in donations, with
an increase of
93%
vs. 2013
$1.2 MILLION
in one day!
increase
Canadians joined in
BIG ENDORSEMENTS
Continued strong results
through December, showing
that GivingTuesday was the
CanadaHelps charities
saw an increase of 169% in
donations 2013 vs. 2012 and
+369% 2014 vs. 2012
Participation more than doubled to
3,300+
A Global Celebration
of Generosity!
Many Canadians
gave back by
volunteering
2013
2014
7MKRMƙGERXHSREXMSRWMRGVIEWIW
on other platforms including
Blackbaud (+36%) and Mobile
Giving Foundation Canada
(+75%) vs. 2013
ONLINE & SOCIAL
MEDIA PHENOMENON
Facebook was top referral
to Frontstream — conversion
doubled from 2013
#GivingTuesdayCa
was tweeted
34,000
times and
generated
on
Dec. 2nd alone
47 MILLION impressions
85%
of donations*
initiated through
social media
*on Frontstream
#GivingTuesday
trended number 1 all day
Halifax, Guelph,
Sarnia-Lambton,
Regina, Calgary
& Vancouver
BUSINESSES
ENGAGED
Mayoral
proclamations
from Halifax to
Vancouver
Large corporations and small
businesses had matching and other
innovative programs to help employees
and customers engage in giving
Sample Press Release
Contact:
[CONTACT NAME, CONTACT ORGANIZATION, PHONE, EMAIL]
[INSERT CITY’S NAME] Proclaims December 1, 2015 GivingTuesday
[INSERT CITY’s NAME ]Day of Giving
[INSERT LOCATION] [INSERT DATELINE] – [INSERT CITY’S NAME] has proclaimed December 1,
2015 GivingTuesday - [INSERT CITY’S NAME] Day of Giving. GivingTuesday is a first of its kind
effort that will harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners—charities, families,
businesses and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in
the giving season. Coinciding with the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, GivingTuesday
will inspire people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in
better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they support and help create a better world.
Taking place December 1, 2015 – GivingTuesday will harness the power of social media to
create a national moment around the holidays dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday
and Cyber Monday have become days that are, today, synonymous with holiday shopping.
Currently, more than [INSERT NUMBER] corporate and nonprofit organizations from [INSERT
CITY’S NAME] have committed to participate in the initiative.
[INSERT QUOTE FROM CITY SPOKESPERSON]
[INSERT WHY PARTNER JOINED GIVINGTUESDAY AND DETAILS OF PARTNER GIVINGTUESDAY
INITIATIVE]
[INSERT QUOTE FROM PARTNER ORG. SPOKESPERSON]
GivingTuesday, initiated in Canada by CanadaHelps, GIV3, and several other partners, marks the opening
day of the giving season. The movement encourages individuals and organizations to join together and
find innovative ways to give back to the charities and causes they support throughout the holiday
season. Momentum is rapidly building, with 15 organizations having enthusiastically pledged their
support by becoming Giving Tuesday Founding Partners and inviting all Canadians to participate.
Charities, business, media and even individuals are encouraged to join in making a pledge to participate
10
to make Canada’s first annual GivingTuesday a resounding success. Canadians can learn how to get
involved or sign up for free partnership at GivingTuesday.ca. Each week, new organizations have joined
the movement and are providing creative ways people can embrace GivingTuesday and collaborate in
their giving efforts to create more meaningful results.
"We are really excited to support this new movement, and to help people connect with their
communities,” said John Hallward, Chairman, GIV3. “It is about feeling great giving...in December and
throughout the year!"
Those who are interested in joining [INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME]’s GivingTuesday initiative can visit
[INSERT SPECIFIC GivingTuesday LANDING PAGE ADDRESS IF AVAILABLE]. For more details about the
GivingTuesday movement, visit the GivingTuesday website (http://www.givingtuesday.caca), Facebook
page (https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesdayCanadaCanada) or follow GivingTuesday
(https://twitter.com/GivingTuesdayCadayCa) and the #GivingTuesdayCa hashtag on Twitter.
About [INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME]
[INSERT ORGANIZATION BOILER PLATE]
About GivingTuesday
GivingTuesday was created by 92nd Street Y, which led the effort in partnership with the UN Foundation.
GivingTuesday is launching for the first time in Canada in 2013. It was first initiated by GIV3 and
CanadaHelps.org, and now lists 15 founding partners. GivingTuesday is a day for the entire charitable
sector and encourages all Canadians to join the movement and give and volunteer for charities of their
choice.
To learn more about GivingTuesday participants and activities or to join the celebration of
giving, please visit:
Website: www.givingtuesday.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesdayCanada
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GivingTuesdayCanada #GivingTuesdayCa
11
To learn more contact us at:
[email protected]
12