Asbury Park Press features #GivingTuesday

Carlton Wilkinson of The Asbury Park Press reflects on the Giving Tuesday movement and highlights the NJSO’s Giving Tuesday effort:

One of the great contradictions of the contemporary American Thanksgiving is the degree to which it has become more important as a kickoff for seasonal retail sales, rather than a day of reflection and gratitude.

Thanksgiving by itself has a relatively small impact on the economy. Christmas season shopping, on the other hand, generates the equivalent of many entire nations’ economies, all on its own. And it traditionally begins these days with a dangerous, Pamplona-like “running of the shoppers,” crushing into pre-dawn sales at stores the day after Thanksgiving.

This year, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has announced that it will participate in Giving Tuesday, a new annual post-Thanksgiving event designed to offset the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a polite invitation to make a sacrifice for others through a monetary gift to a charity of your choice ...

[NJSO board member Val Azzoli] is getting into the spirit by sponsoring a dollar-for-dollar match of gifts received by the nonprofit NJSO, up to a total of $10,000.

The orchestra also invites those who wish to give to send a message or a story on social media, beginning with, “I give to the NJSO because ...”

...

I doubt that I am the first to point out that one need not look for a Giving Tuesday partner or logo to give to the organization of your choice on Dec. 3. But it certainly can’t hurt to publicize it if you do, so send out a tweet, or post it to your friends on Facebook. You will be joining a larger movement, sending a message of our shared responsibility for culture, and it will encourage others to follow your example.

Read the full article at app.com.

Learn more about Giving Tuesday and how you can share your support of the NJSO.

Each Tuesday leading up to December 3, the NJSO will share on Facebook and Twitter the story of a patron committed to donating to the Orchestra as part of the Giving Tuesday movement.

Learn more about the NJSO’s Giving Tuesday campaign at www.njsymphony.org/givingtuesday. More information on the national Giving Tuesday movement is available at www.givingtuesday.org.