TriplePundit • TriplePundit’s Guide to Holiday Giving

This story about Giving Tuesday is part of The Solutions Effect, a monthly newsletter covering the best of solutions journalism in the sustainability and social impact space. If you aren’t already getting this newsletter, you can sign up here.

From a grassroots social media campaign to a global movement reaching hundreds of millions of people, Giving Tuesday took off quickly after its start on the Tuesday after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday in 2012. Last year, in the United States alone, participants donated a record-breaking $3.6 billion.

It’s all in the name of directing support to and raising awareness of the nonprofits and causes that underpin our communities, and it’s not just about financial giving. Millions of people donate goods, volunteer their time, and speak out about the causes that matter to them for Giving Tuesday — all of which have a profound impact on organizations and the communities they serve. We’re joining the chorus again this year by sharing the causes our writers and colleagues support. Read on for some inspiration for the 2025 giving season.

Feeding America

Hunger touches every county in the U.S. More than 50 million Americans turn to food banks and pantries for help. Feeding America’s national network of food banks, food pantries and meal programs rescues food that would otherwise be wasted and distributes it locally. 

Chris Cutino, chief revenue officer at TriplePundit’s parent company 3BL, and his wife have supported Feeding America for years. “They have built a network that is really efficient, with partnerships in communities that might otherwise get overlooked,” he said. “They give families in those communities some stability when needed and have become even more important as more and more families are impacted by rising costs and a challenging economy. They also encourage engagement with lawmakers to help shape hunger programs through policy support.”

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday. 

Downtown Women’s Center

Located in the heart of Skidrow, Downtown Women’s Center is the largest shelter for women in Los Angeles County and the only drop-in day center exclusively serving women experiencing homelessness in the city. Founded in 1978, it provides safe housing and support services like employment training and medical care to help end homelessness, serving over 5,700 women every year. 

“They do incredible work in the community,” said 3p contributor Elizabeth Moss, who has reported on the center’s work. “They’re building a campus of transitional and permanent housing, which will expand their existing housing footprint. It’s much needed in a city like Los Angeles with a large homeless population.” 

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday. 

Caroline Dorman Memorial Benefit

The Caroline Dorman Memorial Benefit has contributed almost $130,000 to the Connecticut Humane Society over the last eight years, launching an endowed fund for the cause in 2024. Two friends of 3p contributor Gary E. Frank spearheaded the effort in honor of their daughter, a lifelong Farmington, Connecticut, resident who volunteered at the humane society. 

“Caroline had a deep love for all animals and had a special affection for pit bulls,” Frank said. “She was a volunteer dog-walker for eight years at Connecticut Humane Society, where she earned the nickname ‘Pit Bull Whisperer.’” 

The animal welfare organization is the oldest and most comprehensive of its kind in the state, serving thousands of pets every year solely through donations and volunteer time. Funds from the Caroline Dorman Memorial Benefit provide ongoing support for general shelter pet care. 

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

Net Impact

Longtime 3BL partner Net Impact is a global member community for emerging leaders, engaging more than 100,000 students and young professionals worldwide.

“Net Impact students at a bunch of business schools from UCLA to Michigan and others had this radical idea that business could be a force for good in the late ’90s, and it’s great to see how that’s evolved over three decades,” Net Impact CEO Karen Johns told 3p earlier this year. “Almost every generation, every decade or so, they reinvent what that looks like.”

Net Impact’s network now includes more than 300 chapters at colleges and in communities around the world, each convening young people for events that combine professional development, networking, and social and environmental impact work to foster the next generation of sustainability leadership. Three-quarters of young members say participating in Net Impact helped them in their careers.

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday. 

Breakthrough T1D

Roughly 9 million people around the world are living with type 1 diabetes. Still, the cause and any means of prevention are unknown. Heather Harker, who heads TriplePundit’s branded content studio, supports Breakthrough T1D, an organization that invests in the most promising research for life-changing therapies and cures. 

Since its founding in 1970, the nonprofit has played a role in milestones like creating the test used to approve diabetes drugs today, developing the widely used insulin Humulin, and building the first commercially available insulin pump. 

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

OpenOceans Global

TriplePundit contributor Carl Nettleton is the founder of OpenOceans Global, a solutions-based nonprofit focused on stopping the flow of plastic to the ocean. Its Ocean Plastic Pathways (OPP) initiative finds the pathways by which plastic reaches beaches, follows them to the source of the pollution, and determines where interventions can most effectively prevent it.

The initiative is already running in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in collaboration with government agencies, university researchers and NGOs. Now, OpenOceans is looking to accelerate its work and implement OPP in other locations where plastic pollution is a persistent problem.

“Eliminating plastic bags and straws is a start,” the organization’s website reads. “Real progress is made when the sources of plastic trash found on beaches and coastal areas are identified and experts collaborate to stop the flows.”

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

New York Blood Center

“When I was a freshman in college, there was a major gas explosion in one of the lecture halls. Two people were killed, and dozens were injured,” recalls 3p contributor Tina Casey. “I was with some friends when it happened, and they all ran off to donate blood, but I wasn’t 18 yet and could not participate to help my community. The next time I heard a direct appeal for blood, I was in my 20s working in city government, and a group of us ran off to the donation center together. I realized that feeling of camaraderie and mutual support was missing from my life, so I continued to donate.” 

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs a blood donation, and it cannot be manufactured. Blood for surgeries, cancer treatment, chronic illnesses, traumatic injuries and other operations must come from donors. 

Casey donates blood several times a year through the New York Blood Center. “Many people who might consider being a blood donor are ineligible or incapable for one reason or another, and I feel useful being able to step up to fill that gap,” she said. If you’re not in the New York area, blood drives and centers can be found worldwide. 

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday, or find a blood drive near you. 

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

“This museum is a favorite in our family for many reasons,” 3p contributor Megan Amrich said. “It is the most wheelchair-accessible and sensory-friendly museum I’ve ever visited. In addition, the museum’s rotating exhibits focus on underrepresented voices in children’s literature and illustrations. Finally, the library area of the museum is filled with picture books on topics ranging from disability to immigration to environmental stewardship to social justice.” 

Eric Carle was one of the best-known illustrators of the last century, creating books like “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, collects, preserves and presents picture-book art. It centers diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion in its work and offers accessibility tools, online programming, and scholarships and admission support for visitors. 

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday. 

Committee to Protect Journalists

Just last year, almost 500 journalists were killed or imprisoned for doing their job. Another 71 were reported missing. The Committee to Protect Journalists promotes press freedom around the world, defending journalists’ right to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal through research, documentation, advocacy, advisory work and direct support for reporters. 

“I support the Committee to Protect Journalists because they look out for journalists who put themselves in harm’s way to tell stories that would otherwise stay buried,” said 3BL CEO Charlie Wilkie. “It’s tough, unglamorous work, and it matters a great deal. None of us gets the truth without someone taking a risk to uncover it, and supporting them feels like the least I can do.”

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

Make-A-Wish

In 2001, while my sister, 11 years old at the time, was in the hospital undergoing treatment for a rare genetic disease and blood cancer, she wished to ride and care for a horse. That year, Make-A-Wish connected with contractors, volunteers, and neighbors in our small town to build a barn and adopt a horse for her. 

Luckily, our mother already had experience with horses and a large backyard for them to roam. The nonprofit gifted my sister a saddle, a bridle, the barn and a brown horse named TJ that she was able to ride before she passed away. 

Make-A-Wish grants the wish of a child diagnosed with a critical illness in the U.S. every 33 minutes. It shares thousands of stories like my sister’s. Wishes can be the spark that gives them, and their families, the strength to keep fighting and the hope that anything is possible. 

Click to donate nationwide or to a local chapter for Giving Tuesday, or find a chapter in your country.

Local Food Aid

“My family donates to national and international food aid organizations throughout the year, and we volunteer time with local organizations where the connections are more personal,” said 3p senior writer Tina Casey.

Food organizations also often accept other essentials like hygiene products, baby items and even warm clothing during this time of year. Casey donates handmade winter hats to two food aid organizations local to her family: The Friendly Fridge BX in New York City and F.A.R.M. in Boone, North Carolina. “Because the connections are so personal, I have the chance to learn first-hand how something as simple as a new hat can make a difference in a person’s life, and that keeps motivating me to contribute again,” she said. 

The Friendly Fridge rescues and redirects food from the surrounding community that would otherwise be wasted. Financial donations go toward repackaging materials, cleaning supplies and transportation costs. F.A.R.M. is a pay-what-you-can community cafe that prepares fresh meals produced from local sources for everyone, regardless of means. Donations bridge the gap between meal costs and what diners can afford. 

Click to donate to The Friendly Fridge BX and F.A.R.M. for Giving Tuesday, or check in with food aid organizations near you to see what they need this season.

Ceres

Ceres launched 35 years ago in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, still among the most devastating ecological disasters in U.S. history. It’s been at the forefront of corporate and investor action on environmental issues ever since.

If you think of a major advancement in sustainability over the past three decades, Ceres was probably involved — from helping to establish the GRI guidelines for corporate sustainability reporting, to advocating for some of the most influential environmental policies in the U.S. and globally. Another longtime partner of 3BL, Ceres continues to convene hundreds of companies and investors in coalitions focused on climate change, water access and biodiversity.

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

Acacia Center for Justice

There is no federal right to a publicly-funded attorney in U.S. immigration court, and hiring a private immigration attorney can be prohibitively expensive. The Acacia Center for Justice provides legal services for immigrants at risk of deportation or detention, including unaccompanied children (some too young to speak), who would otherwise be told to “represent themselves” in their immigration proceedings. 

The Donald Trump administration pulled out of a number of federal contracts with the organization this year that provided legal services for children, formerly separated families and people with disabilities. Now, the center is working to fill those gaps. Mary Mazzoni, executive editor of 3p, sends a recurring donation. All donations help support its immigrant legal defense programs and community support networks. 

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

Ronald McDonald House

Hundreds of Ronald McDonald House programs worldwide provide essential services for families when children are seriously ill or injured and in need of healthcare. They provide overnight stays and meals that can save families thousands of dollars in expenses on top of medical bills. The programs also offer education for outpatients and siblings who are missing school, peer support and activities for families. 

Brand studio lead Heather Harker supports the Ronald McDonald House, and my family was a part of the program in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while my sister was undergoing treatment in the early 2000s. 

Click to donate globally or to a local chapter for Giving Tuesday. 

New York Cares

New York Cares is making the nation’s largest city more equitable with the help of 66,000 volunteers across all five boroughs. It leads a vast array of efforts from career preparation support to food and coat drives to tutoring students to gardening and composting programs. The aim is to offer a centralized hub for all things community organizing and volunteering, and New York Cares has done just that for nearly 40 years. 

Brittany Partridge, senior product manager at 3BL, volunteers with the nonprofit. “New York City can be a tough place to live, but the thing I love about the city the most is that we show up for each other when it really matters,” she said. “New York Cares is part of that support infrastructure.”

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

Society of Environmental Journalists

In 1990, a group of journalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, Turner Broadcasting, Minnesota Public Radio and National Geographic formed the Society of Environmental Journalists to increase and improve news coverage of environment-related issues. Today, the membership association includes over 1,400 journalists and academics in 49 countries who are strengthening the journalism that advances public understanding of environmental issues across all forms of news media.

“I really appreciate the organization’s commitment to not only training and assisting environmental journalists, but also to helping the public know and care more about the environmental issues of our times,” said 3p contributor Elyse Hauser, who is a member and volunteer with the society. 

Click to donate for Giving Tuesday.

Featured image credit: nito/Adobe Stock