First, there was the post-Thanksgiving sales spectacle Black Friday and then the online version, Cyber Monday. Now, charitable groups want to start a new holiday tradition — it's called Giving Tuesday and the first one is tomorrow.
It may seem a little surprising that no one came up with the idea before of designating a specific day to help launch the holiday charitable giving season.
"I mean this is just brilliant, to just give everyone time to pause and think about what's most important at the holiday season," says Jyl Johnson Pattee, the founder of Mom It Forward. The online community of mothers is one of more than 1,400 groups participating in this year's Giving Tuesday. Local Mom It Forward groups will do volunteer projects to mark the event, and they plan to host a Twitter party that anyone can attend online.
"We'll have an hour conversation about charity, holiday giving, volunteerism and how you can really make a difference over the holiday season," she says.