Henry Timms came up with the idea behind #GivingTuesday during a breakfast with his wife in 2012. After discussing the idea with colleagues at 92nd Street Y in New York City, and partnering with other organizations, the global day of giving on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving became a reality.

"We were thinking, ‘Black Friday, Cyber Monday — two days all about individualism and commercialism,’” says Timms, the community center’s executive director. “We thought it would be a good idea to have something on Tuesday, and that philanthropy ought to be a part of this mix.”

Today, #GivingTuesday is a social media–fueled phenomenon that takes place in nearly 100 countries. Last year, Blackbaud, one of the initiative’s founding partners, processed more than $47 million in U.S. online donations on #GivingTuesday. Online giving for that day rose by 20 percent from 2015, and nearly 10 percent of all online donations made in 2016 took place in November, which Blackbaud reported was likely due to #GivingTuesday.

Read about Giving Tuesday by Vesna Jaksic Lowe at Medium.com