World Vision Anticipates a Record-Setting Giving Tuesday with Personalized Ways to Give Back: Fashion Advocacy, Animal Activism and Virtual Volunteerism

SEATTLE, Nov. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- World Vision is one of thousands of non-profits taking part in the second annual observance of Giving Tuesday.  Giving Tuesday, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving has a simple goal: after two days focused on shopping (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), it's meant to be a day to refocus on giving thanks by giving back.

This year, Giving Tuesday is poised to set records with nearly double the partner organizations as last year, when the holiday brought a 53 percent increase in online donations and a 25 percent increase in average online gift size.ⁱ Through the World Vision Gift Catalog, new ways to give allow shoppers the chance to put post-Thanksgiving sale savings toward gifts with impact that outlasts a one-day holiday:

• Fashion Advocacy: Shopping choices do make a difference. Engage in fashion advocacy by gifting or wearing jewelry, scarves and other handcrafted accessories that fund initiatives like small business loans or human trafficking prevention programs.
• Animal Activism: World Vision is one of several non-profits offering animals as a self-sustainable gift that can change lives. For $75, one goat nourishes a hungry family with up to 16 cups of milk a day, the surplus can be sold for additional income, its manure can fertilize vegetable gardens and its offspring shared with neighbors, benefitting an entire community.
• Virtual Volunteerism: Not everyone can volunteer at a soup kitchen during the holidays, but you can volunteer virtually by giving food kits to families in need right here in the U.S. For $18 – the cost of a t-shirt – you can feed a whole family in the U.S. for a day, reaching the historically high 44 percent of America's poor currently living below half the poverty line – a number that includes nearly 10 percent of all children in the United States.

"Giving back is so important – so needed, yet so easy to forget in the midst of a shopping-crazed season," said Cheryl DeBruler, World Vision Gift Catalog Specialist. "We're excited to see the growth in Giving Tuesday's second year and what it brings to those in need around the world."

Last fiscal year, more than 186,000 donors purchased more than 475,000 items from World Vision's Gift Catalog helping more than 844,000 people around the world. In its 18th year, the Catalog offers a variety of gifts from $16 to $39,000 to share thanks and thoughtfulness on #GivingTuesday 2013.

To speak with a World Vision representative about the growth of #GivingTuesday or request high res photo or product samples contact Christine Connolly Bell at [email protected], 323-208-2444, or Natalie Bisaro at [email protected], 708-434-5006.

About the World Vision Gift Catalog 
Since 1996, the World Vision Gift Catalog has given individuals the opportunity to better the lives of children, adults and communities in the U.S. and around the world through hundreds of gifts in all different areas of need: clean water, food, education, sexual exploitation, job training and others. Last fiscal year more than 186,000 donors purchased more than 475,000 gifts that raised over $33.7 million. To order from World Vision's Gift Catalog, visit www.worldvisiongifts.org or call toll-free at 855-WV-GIFTS. Want to see where your dollars go? Watch how the Gift Catalog works through the WorldVisionUSA YouTube channel.

About World Vision
World Vision is a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. For more information on their efforts, visit WorldVision.org/press or follow them on Twitter at @WorldVisionNews.

ⁱ GivingTuesday.org, http://community.givingtuesday.org/Page/FAQ

SOURCE World Vision