Organised by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in the UK, with NatWest Group as a founding partner, #GivingTuesday is a social media campaign that falls on November 30th, the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
A global phenomenon, #GivingTuesday has broken successive world records for the most money donated online to charity in 24 hours with the campaign encouraging people to give their voice, time, or money to support these causes. In 2020, Giving Tuesday donations amounted to £20.2 million which is almost £14,000 a minute and a 43% increase when compared to 2019.
To celebrate Giving Tuesday this year we’ll be donating £425,000 to charities which our colleagues’ and customers’ support. Since our involvement in Giving Tuesday began in 2014, we’ve committed to give £2,300,000 to encourage our employees and customers to get involved in supporting this global day of giving.
How our colleagues will support
Our employees will be encouraged to sign up to their Payroll Giving scheme and donate to charity. If a UK employee signs up for Payroll Giving or increases their current donation by 31 December 2021, the bank will give them a charity donation of £125 which they can then donate to charities of their choice. The UK payroll giving scheme is run through HMRC and provides a simple, tax efficient way for employees to make regular and one-off donations to charity direct from their salary.
Additionally, we’ll be supporting the VaccinAid appeal, which aims to help deliver over 2 billion Covid-19 vaccines worldwide by the end of 2021. NatWest Group will match colleague donations up to £25,000.
We’re also encouraging our employees to volunteer through our tree planting programme with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) with an ambition to plant 100,000 trees in 2021, taking action to support climate change.
How our customers can support
NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland Reward current account customers can support the campaign by exchanging their MyReward points for a charity donation. There are currently eleven charities to choose from and NatWest Group is making £150,000 available to match customer donations; the bank will match donations up to £50 per customer.
Andy Frain, #GivingTuesday UK Lead at the CAF, said: “Giving Tuesday is a really exciting campaign, and we are so thankful that NatWest Group are a Founding Partner and joining us for an 8th consecutive year. This event is a great chance to give back to the charities and causes that we care about and thank them for overcoming some immense challenges over the course of this pandemic.
“People can give in so many ways and we’re always amazed at the diversity of people’s generosity – whether it is donating money, volunteering time or just amplifying your support for a charity, any act of giving can make all the difference to a cause you care about.”
Michael Duncan, Head of Giving Strategy & Programmes at NatWest Group, said: “Giving Tuesday is such an integral part of the charity work that NatWest Group does and we are excited to once again be involved at the forefront. Over the past 21 months, the charity sector has faced unprecedented difficulties like so many people and businesses across the world. Giving Tuesday provides a great opportunity to say thank you for all the work charities have done during this very difficult period.
“We, as a company, recognise the importance of charitable work and this Giving Tuesday we will be encouraging our customers and employees to donate and support in any way they can on November 30th and beyond.”
