National Give Something Away Day is a holiday that encourages people to give something away—not only to clean out the clutter that has accumulated in your home but also to benefit charities, strangers, or anyone else who might benefit from your gift. This can be something as simple as donating some clothing to a local thrift store, paying for the person behind you in line at the local grocery store or coffee shop, or giving away change to someone who needs it.

The History of National Give Something Away Day

This holiday was initially created by the self-proclaimed giver and philanthropist Linda Eaton Hall-Fulcher in 2015. It was her attempt to give something back to the world. She started this holiday with a Facebook page, but the holiday has since taken on a life of its own, and now people all over the world are celebrating this holiday.

Facts About Charitable Giving

As we researched this holiday, we came across some very interesting facts about charitable giving. Facts that should make everyone feel better about humanity and hopefully inspire other people to give to those who might not have as much as you might have. With that being said, below are some of the facts that we’ve discovered about charitable giving:

• Charitable organizations depend on individual donations. In fact, individual donations make up to 73% of all charitable donations.
• December is the biggest charitable giving month.
• In 2017, total charitable giving was $410.02 billion dollars. That’s 2.1% of the United States’ total GDP.
• Corporate giving accounts for 5% of all charitable donations.
• Gifts to international charities decreased by 4.4% in 2018. This is just 6% of all donations.
• Charitable gifts by bequest make up approximately 9% of all donations.
• Approximately 5% of all donations are made to arts, culture, and humanities.
• Approximately 14% of all donations are made to educational charities.
• About 12% of all donations are to human service charities.
• Environmental and animal charities receive about 3% of all charitable donations.
• For the most part, charitable gifts have increased since 1977.
• The only years since 1977 when charitable giving declined were 1987, 2008, and 2009.

Celebrating National Give Something Away Day

Celebrating this holiday is as simple as giving something away to someone else. This can mean giving clothes or old household items away to organizations such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army, giving money to your favorite charity, or giving food to a local food bank. Other ways to celebrate this holiday include giving a monetary gift to your local homeless shelter, giving your neighbor something that they might need, or donating to your local library. It doesn’t matter what you give or who you give it to—it only matters that you make an effort to make someone else’s life better.