Choosing GivingTuesday over Black Friday

Why GivingTuesday is a great alternative for non-profits and social businesses

Today is GivingTuesday! The day during which radical generosity is unleashed.?

Last week, it was possible to buy that pretty sweater, that perfume with a 50 percent discount or even an enormous TV for a real bargain.?

But did you really need to buy any of those at all?

In the last few years, Black Friday has become a norm and almost all brands bring everything to the table to attract as many customers as possible.?

Black Friday signals the beginning of the shopping season. Now that the holidays are approaching, people are storming into stores and spending hundreds of euros on unnecessary items. Why? Because purchasing items at a discount is psychologically satisfying. Plus, marketing campaigns on Black Friday focus on limited-time offers which leads to FOMO and pushes consumers to buy even more.

From a business standpoint, there are several reasons to take part in Black Friday. There is not only an increase in traffic and sales (which also allows companies to clear their stock before Christmas), but also the possibility for customer acquisition. On Black Friday, companies have a great opportunity to attract new customers by advertising promotions and having enticing deals. If these customers are satisfied after buying the products, there is a higher chance that they will become repeat customers and purchase from the brand again.

On the other hand, Black Friday has many downsides. Firstly, by promoting overconsumption it harms the environment. More consumption means that more of our planet’s resources are used to produce more products and, with an increased number of transactions, it also means higher emissions to take the products from the factories to the consumers. In fact, according to the “Dirty Delivery Report”, by Money UK, Black Friday online shopping in 2020 was responsible for the emission of a whopping 429,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas in the UK alone. Secondly, by encouraging the underpriced sale of goods, Black Friday contributes even more to the outsourcing of production to nations with less labour regulations and where salaries are extremely low. Not to mention the strain on retail workers all over the world during this day. In short, to meet the demand that Black Friday and other Holidays promote, companies resort to cheap labour, increasing social inequalities around the world.

When considering the business perks alone, it is understandable for non-profit and not-for-profit organizations to be tempted to take advantage of this holiday (even if it’s by creating campaigns that do not encourage blind consumerism or promote sustainable behaviour). The question is, would it be ethical for a company that defends a more sustainable and equitable world to be part of Black Friday? At SPEAK, we lean more towards ‘No’. However, is there a better alternative to Black Friday for social businesses and nonprofits? Gladly, the answer is yes!

Meet GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday is a movement created in 2012 that started as a small and simple idea for a day to inspire people to do good. The goal of GivingTuesday is to make giving more common by creating a routine that lasts well beyond this day. In almost 10 years this movement has encouraged hundreds of millions of people around the world to unleash generosity. Every year people mobilise to give back and be changemakers within their communities and the options are endless: from helping your neighbour out, to donating to organisations, projects and causes you believe in. As they say, “there is no act of generosity too small”, everything counts no matter what you (can) give.?

"GivingTuesday strives to build a world in which the catalytic power of generosity is at the heart of the society we build together, unlocking dignity, opportunity, and equity around the globe."

It has been found that 40% of the people are more likely to donate during a celebration than during regular days. Adding to that, the fact that GivingTuesday is right after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, means that some people might be more inclined to give back. Why? Because Black Friday shopping sprees, that probably included unnecessary purchases, sometimes lead people to feel guilty for harming the environment.?

On GivingTuesday generosity and donations become the words of the day and take over consumers' attention all over the world. Therefore, it becomes a great opportunity for charities, nonprofits and social businesses to get the center stage and ask for donations or volunteering time. In fact, the amount of donations given on GivingTuesday increases every year and the outcome for this year is very promising. In 2020 the total amount of donations given during GivingTuesday in the US alone? was 2.47 billion dollars (25% more than in 2019).?

Through GivingTuesday, social businesses and non-profits can boost their impact, guilt free, by having a platform to let their project be known or even raise funds to carry on with their mission and keep solving social problems. In other words, the organizations that participate in GivingTuesday can get people’s attention without joining the consumerism and profit-driven holiday that is Black Friday. They are able to boost their impact in a sustainable and conscious way which does not harm the environment nor contribute to perpetuating inequalities.

WE at SPEAK…

Non profit organisations and social businesses are constantly looking for ways to grow their impact, and so are we. For us, this means?reaching out to newcomers?and letting them know about the opportunity to be part of SPEAK's community. Especially those who need it the most, like refugees and unemployed migrants. To reach them, we often partner with other organisations and we make use of marketing strategies that get us to stand out in an evermore saturated attention economy.

So, in the beginning of November, Black Friday seemed like an opportunity we couldn’t overlook due to its sheer possible impact: an increase in the number of people joining SPEAK to share their language or to learn a new language and culture. During a brainstorming session with the team we asked ourselves if leveraging Black Friday was in line with our values or if it would be ok to do so if we were communicating something positive for our community.

Black Friday is a Holiday that promotes consumerism, negatively affects the environment, encourages cheap labor and perpetuates inequalities. Considering that what SPEAK promotes has more to do with being and feeling rather than having, and that equality is one of our values, Black Friday is at the end of the day away from our mission and what we stand for.

But, what do we stand for? We believe in social movements for justice! We believe that justice-oriented movements are putting an emphasis in supporting the people and places which they serve. This is why we decided to join?the GivingTuesday movement. When we shared the idea with the?team, it was?a clear?win. And here we are today, having launched a GivingTuesday campaign devoted to giving back to our community - by offering a 100% discount voucher - and unleashing generosity - by sharing this movement on our platforms and encouraging our community to get involved.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out our GivingTuesday campaign and sign up to a Language Group for free, and go to GivingTuesday’s website to know more about how you can get involved.