The most trying times often bring out the best in humanity. Find out how the GlobalGiving community came together to bring light to one of the toughest years in memory and raise a record-breaking $105 million to stop the spread of COVID-19, rebuild in the wake of disasters, and more.
Here are 100 moments that paved the way for community-led change in 2020:
“We are lucky not to need any relief, unlike many other people,” Alex said.
Bindi backed the all-women Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit, which focuses on protecting precious rhinos in South Africa.
Our partner jumped into action (and inspired thousands to help) with a project to provide relief after the blasts that killed more than 200 people and sent the Lebanese capital reeling.
The magazine recognized URDA’s efforts to provide humanitarian services such as shelter, healthcare, and emergency supplies to people affected by the tragic blasts.
Our partner APOPO led the giant African pouched rat to the achievement by training him to find landmines.
During the pandemic, Alysha couldn’t buy a coffee for the person behind her in line, so she instead donated that money and encouraged her friends and family to do the same!
The Tanzanian nonprofit Twende created 130 foot-operated handwashing stations for public spaces that couldn’t close despite the coronavirus, including orphanages, hospitals, and markets.
The well-known Youtuber and actor rallied his fans to support survivors of the wildfires and the billions of animals, like the grey-headed flying fox, that were affected.
Our swift partnership with Sara Blakely and the Spanx By Sara Blakely Foundation delivered much-needed aid to small, women-owned businesses across the United States and encouraged others to give to The Red Backpack Fund, too.
The travel company Away donated proceeds from a new product to GlobalGiving and said, “[W]e know that taking care of ourselves is just as important as taking care of others.”
Spurred by friends, family, and Chris van Tulleken, 204 incredible people contributed to provide water and hygiene assistance for migrants at a camp in Leros, Greece.
She gave to the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund because “we are all in this together.”
These famous YouTubers’ at-home parody video of “Party in the U.S.A.” was a memorable music moment, and we had fun with a video of our own.
The famous artist’s drawing was shared thousands of times on social media and compelled people to give to the Coronavirus Relief Fund. “Love is the answer, and we can love each other in infinite ways,” she said.
When Hurricane Laura hit near the border of Louisiana and Texas in August, coverage directed people to GlobalGiving’s Hurricane Laura Relief Fund as a safe, quick way to get emergency aid to where it was needed.
The outlet highlighted organizations, including GlobalGiving, focused on responding in communities devastated by Hurricane Laura.
The Kenyan nonprofit is on a mission to help disadvantaged communities access quality education and health care.
The actor sends his fans birthday wishes, pep talks, and simple greetings on Cameo and sends the money he earns to the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund.
Ari rallied their network to give after the massive explosions in the Lebanese capital.
That helped GlobalGiving surpass the goal of raising $5 million to send health care workers, frontline responders, and crucial PPE to virus hotspots.
Donors channeled the generosity of the giving season in May to help nonprofits navigate the pandemic.
Donors stepped up to assist with pandemic-specific needs through a special campaign supporting organizations in Afghanistan and Pakistan that coincided with #GivingTuesdayNow and the month of Ramadan.
Our first webinar introduced donors to the nonprofits that continue fighting for gender equality amid the pandemic.
As an aspiring wildlife conservationist who has volunteered at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Ali inspired others to help save Kenya’s northern white rhinos through their donations.
GlobalGiving made the list as a way to support everything from education and animals to ending hunger and responding to wildfires.
One hundred microgrants to help nonprofits handle pressing needs during the pandemic grew to nearly 500 thanks to tremendous donor support.
This generous donor contributed more than $245,000 to COVID-19 relief.
From Peru to Kenya, these five nonprofits inspired donors and their sustainability peers to earn a spot in GlobalGiving’s Climate Action Fund.
“These are difficult times for many, and I believe we should all do what we can to help others come out of this crisis,” she said.
In response to our $1 million incentive fund, GlobalGivers moved well over $3 million to their favorite causes on #GivingTuesday 2020.
GlobalGiving partners ended #GivingTuesday with impressive results. One nonprofit reached an all-time high: “We raised the most in a single day since we started using GlobalGiving. For a small organization with limited resources, we were really pleased with our achievement.”
Phone case company CASETiFY launched a new UV phone sanitizer and donated 100% of proceeds from initial sales to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.
Mobile Mini Circus for Children shifted from providing a circus program for Afghani kids to making face shields, painting social distancing markers with old props, and educating people about the coronavirus in energetic circus fashion.
And giving money through GlobalGiving is one that will provide medical supplies to hospitals and essentials to families in need.
Communities received much-needed support thanks to general operating support grants from Ford Philanthropy.
“It is my happiest place when I am there contributing personally, but when I can’t, it gives me some comfort to provide in whatever way I can.” Rachel said about her monthly donation to African Angels.
City Football Group, best known for its ownership of Manchester City FC, asked its staff, players, coaches, and fans to donate to response efforts near each of its nine clubs around the world.
With employees working from home, companies used GlobalGiving to donate the money they would have spent on food and other in-office perks.
The Halo game franchise raised more than $450,000 for GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund through in-game sales of a “Relief and Recovery” REQ Pack that provides players with access to rare virtual items and sales of Halo branded T-shirts.
EA eSports donated $1 million to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund and partnered with FIFA to bring a livestream fundraiser to fans.
Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends, hosted an in-game promotion and also made donations to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.
Artists from around the world launched a new collection to support essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. All proceeds from the collection through Design Miami went to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.
Donations made by global Logitech employees were matched with the launch of a new program in May, and the company and leadership gave $200,000 to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.
Together, GlobalGiving and 3M made grants to universities around the world doing research to support COVID-19 treatments and vaccine development.
Starting in March, jewelry brand T. Jazelle raised more than $42,500 for five GlobalGiving projects by donating the proceeds from bracelet sales.
Retired American soccer player Jimmy Conrad fundraised for the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund by selling pandemic-themed jerseys to support frontline workers and those doing their part to curb the virus’ spread by staying at home.
The luxury fashion house helped GlobalGiving #StandWithWomen by promoting a handful of nonprofits working toward gender equality and against the increase in gender-based violence since the onset of the pandemic.
Platforms like GlobalGiving are getting stuck when making decisions about who should be on the platform and who should be off (what we call the Neutrality Paradox). The Ethos process lets us address the dilemmas and make decisions with integrity.
Flowly, an app that helps people manage pain and anxiety, pledged to donate $0.50 for every completed app session to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.
Jared Leto and the Thirty Seconds to Mars crew donated the proceeds of their AMERICA merchandise (featuring words like “Purell,” “Zoom,” “Tiger King,” and a social distancing warning) to GlobalGiving.
In his list of active ways to keep communities safe and healthy, the former South Bend, Indiana mayor noted donating to the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund.
The senator named the emergency response fueled by the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund along with initiatives to stock food pantries, care for seniors, and shelter individuals without homes as efforts to support.
As fires raged across the state, Katherine Cole, host of the national food and beverage podcast “The Four Top,” pointed to the California Wildfire Relief Fund as a way to help.
“My beautiful state is on fire…We can all make a difference, and we can all help!” the former First Lady of California said in a post.
Hollywood producer DeVon Franklin said GlobalGiving is a way to help people affected by the fires in Oregon and Washington, too.
After seeing the damage in Southern California, Ruby decided to give a huge part of her annual charitable contributions to wildfire relief efforts through GlobalGiving.
The professional wrestler played the game “Katana Zero” with fans to support disaster relief in the Philippines.
Before the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on March 11, the newspaper mentioned the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund as one way Angelenos and other California residents could aid response efforts in China.
An episode of her show, “Las Noticias” in November highlighted the damage Hurricane Eta left in Central America and opportunities to offer help.
Wasim and Kristen use their images to benefit causes they care about (including GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund).
Although he couldn’t leave his home and physically help people recovering from violent acid attacks, Rahat supported hospital care for 350 survivors in Bangladesh. “We can share some of our resources and hope that that makes a difference,” he said.
To honor doctors and nurses providing vital healthcare, Funko released new collectibles with a $30,000 donation to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.
The Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) and GlobalGiving researched the concept of “community-led change” with 73 community leaders from six countries who co-created community-led tools.
The VF Corporation, a global apparel and footwear company with 12 unique brands, united to provide more than $750,000 for COVID-19 relief through cause marketing in partnership with GlobalGiving.
Although the pandemic made travel almost impossible, our partners let us tour the world through their eyes during the 2020 Photo Contest.
The actor and environmental activist gave 50 lucky people the chance to pay it forward with a GlobalGiving Gift Card that could go toward COVID-19 relief or any other cause close to the winner’s heart.
“…the least I can do is share my resources with others who aren’t as lucky,” she said when donating to the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund.
The Bullseye host shouted out a scholarship program for doula and midwife education for women of color created in the name of his late aunt Claudia.
Simone showed her son, Rory, how to share and give by helping to close the gender gap and keep girls in school in Sierra Leone.
Facebook’s crisis donate button brought $524,000 to local nonprofits responding to emergencies in their communities around the world.
The social media giant promised to match up to AU$1 million (nearly $687,000) in donations made to GlobalGiving through its platform.
Donors contributed to fundraisers for 156 disasters through the platform.
The organization noted GlobalGiving as a trusted place to send donations to support people and wildlife affected by the Australian wildfires.
Nonprofit partners working in Australia raised $1.7 million for fire relief in their communities.
His monthly donation for Raymond, a child at The Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission, covers food, clothes, and care that Jeffrey believes everyone needs to thrive.
For those eager to assist during the early days of the pandemic, Buzzfeed offered a handful of options—including the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund—to provide food, water, and health care to people in need.
The company’s foundation pledged $2 million to help fight the pandemic, with $200,000 granted to GlobalGiving.
After Hurricane Laura devastated Gulf Coast communities, the outlet noted GlobalGiving as a means of supporting first responders and getting emergency supplies to the storm’s survivors.
“We are not alone, but rather, we are here as a community to stretch our hand and lift each other up when needed,” the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund donor said.
The innovative clothing brand launched a “stay positive, test negative” campaign and donated 15% of the proceeds to GlobalGiving.
Nonprofit, platform, and philanthropy leaders exchanged ideas about this Neutrality Paradox, which GlobalGiving has solved with the Ethos process.
These 10 leaders put the communities they serve at the center of their recovery and resilience work and learned from each other during their yearlong fellowship.
Melissa supported a project to provide books and encourage quality time in families to boost literacy.
The Grandmother Project warmed hearts with its solution to enlist grandmas to guide students with traditional teaching methods while schools were closed due to the pandemic.
As historic wildfires raged in the western US, the Colorado-based coffee company celebrated their beverage of choice on Sept. 29 and donated profits from the day to GlobalGiving’s California Wildfire Relief Fund.
Travels to Africa left Linda with a love of elephants, so when she saw a GlobalGiving Instagram post about an organization working to protect the animals, she had to give them funds to continue.
The interactive lighting installation in New York City could be controlled remotely by anyone in the world via mobile phone—and with a donation to GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.
During a year of loss and hardship, we partnered with #GivingTuesday to devote 10 minutes to finding gratitude.
When social distancing made gifting a little harder, FastCompany gave readers fun digital gifting suggestions like GlobalGiving Gift Cards.
Generous GlobalGivers gave millions in GlobalGiving Gift Cards that support projects around the world.
Companies gave their employees and clients the gift of giving during the holiday season. The donations from gift cards were an unexpected bright spot for many nonprofits, including Develop Africa, which had to say thanks.
The company gave $50 GlobalGiving Gift Cards to employees so that they could give back to their favorite project during the holiday season.
Our community recognized nonprofits’ serious needs during the pandemic and started 978 new monthly donations during the December Monthly Donor Drive.
Organizations like the Voice for Asian Elephants Society aimed to earn 20 new recurring donors during the December Monthly Donor Drive, and they ended the week with 27, giving them ongoing and sustainable support!
The group of monthly donors grew to 782 by December.
“There is so much to change in this world, and I want to make a small contribution for good,” she said.
Although in-person site visits and other events were canceled, GlobalGiving found new ways to check in with partners across the globe. Virtual social hours helped strengthen our network.
As nonprofits adapted to the new normal of the pandemic, more than 1,000 leaders connected through collaborative GlobalGiving training programs, including the Peer Learning Network, the Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program, and the Online Fundraising Academy.
We welcomed 529 inspiring nonprofits from 95 countries in 2020 through our virtual onboarding program.
The growing GlobalGiving team supported one another through the loss of family members, the arrival of babies (including the four-legged kind), and all the challenges of the pandemic—while remaining committed to our mission and our partners around the world.
Thanks to all of these moments and millions more, GlobalGiving helped raise $105 million for urgent causes and broke records in 2020.
Help us continue supporting people in need around the world.
Featured Photo: Creating Dignified Jobs for 110 Artisans in Kenya by Imani CollectiveFind exactly what you're looking for in our Learn Library by searching for specific words or phrases related to the content you need.
