Today, individuals across the world celebrated Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday began in 2012 when New York’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation hoped that individuals would want to give back after a weekend of large-scale consumerism, according to Vox. From there, the idea of Giving Tuesday was started to spur individuals and companies to give back. Since then, Giving Tuesday has become an international movement, with over 80 participating countries.

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As stated in the GivingTuesday 2022 Impact Report, total donations last year reached an all-time high of $3.1 billion, with 35 million individuals participating.

In an email statement to The Badger Herald, UW law school professor Mark Sidel said the movement provides an opportunity for a collective, organized philanthropic effort.

“Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for donors to increase their giving and for organizations to seek to organize significant giving for their missions and activities,” Sidel said. “Over the years Giving Tuesday has been very useful in increasing donations to a wide range of the charitable organizations that make such an important difference in American communities.”