Even if Giving Tuesday hadn’t happened last week, 2020 would have already seen a smashing success for the charitable event. A special May edition, #GivingTuesdayNow, drew more than half a billion dollars in donations for charities big and small amid the pandemic.

But the regular, post-Thanksgiving edition of Giving Tuesday was even more successful than the May event, bringing in $2.47 billion in donations in the U.S. alone, according to organizers. That sum, half a billion more than the event attracted last year, tops what all philanthropic foundations except for one gave in all of 2019, according to the Giving Tuesday organization.

“This groundswell of giving reaffirms that generosity is universal and powerful, and that it acts as an antidote to fear, division, and isolation,” said Giving Tuesday’s cofounder and CEO, Asha Curran, in a news release.

Major donor platforms also reported a big increase this year. Classy, a creator of online fundraising software for nonprofits, reported $37.9 million in donations through its platform, a 95 percent year-over-year increase, with its largest nonprofit, the Salvation Army, bringing in $5.2 million.

Also drawing a large number of donations was the school-focused fundraising service GiveCampus, which raised $12.5 million, according to The NonProfit Times.

Other recent headlines:

A tough time for dry cleaning. In a world where outfits that combine dress shirts and sweatpants are suddenly in vogue, dry cleaners have had a tough go of it. According to a recent Bloomberg report, the National Cleaners Association says that industry revenue is expected to fall by about half compared with the $7 billion it did annually before COVID-19, and many dry cleaners are in danger of closing. “It’s an ugly, ugly time,” said Nora Nealis, NCA’s executive director, in comments to the news service. “Most of them are holding on with their fingernails in hope of help.”

Improving representation in the investment space. With a goal of drawing more women into the alternative investment space, the National Association of Investment Companies is teaming with the Toigo Foundation, a charity that focuses on improving representation in the investment sector. The duo will launch the NAIC Paradigm Changers Undergraduate and Graduate Internship Program, which will help to generate education, career programming, mentoring, and internships for women—especially diverse women—in private equity. The foundation will work with NAIC to build the curriculum for the new offering, the groups say in a news release.

Curate Carefully

Content curation can be tricky, but it's a crucial component of adding value to your members' experience. Here are some guidelines to help you select the content that's most useful to your niche audience. https://t.co/7dwmwQgn0X#socialmedia #marketing #assnchat #assnexec

— Michigan Society of Association Executives (@mymsae) December 5, 2020

Trying to figure out how to curate content sounds easy, but it can be harder than it looks.

Fortunately, Hootsuite recently released an in-depth guide on how to curate the right way. As the company notes, the concept is deceptively simple:

Just like a museum curator’s role is to choose the most important artifacts and artworks to display, your role as a content curator is to select only the best content to share with your followers.

This curated content definition isn’t complicated. In fact, every retweet is a very basic kind of content curation. But to get the most value out of content curation, you’ll have to step it up a notch.

Check out the Hootsuite blog to learn more.

ICYMI …

COVID-19 talks are picking up again. Here’s what the revival of coronavirus aid discussions in Congress could mean for associations.

What the heck is “lizard brain,” and why does it matter to membership professionals? Lisa Boylan explains.

Keep your members certified in 2021. Consultant Mickie Rops offers tips for adapting certification programs to the current times.

(cnythzl/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images Plus)