by Stephanie Schwartz, M.S.
GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. It is celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday. GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. I like to consider myself a compassionate and generous person, and as such would love to donate to organizations with missions that I care about. I want to be supportive on GivingTuesday and other days throughout the year when friends or family are involved in charitable fundraisers. However, I am a graduate student, and unfortunately don’t have the means to donate to all organizations I care about or every time I am asked to by others. This past GivingTuesday I found myself feeling guilty about this and noticed I was thinking, “I should donate more to charitable organizations.” At the same time, I know that doing so beyond my means would be problematic. I gave my dilemma much thought and wound up choosing the two organizations that I am most passionate about and donated what I could afford. When I thought more rationally (“I would love to donate more, but there’s no reason I must; in fact, it’s not realistic for me to do so at this time) I felt regretful about the situation, but not guilty. I was able to accept myself for what I am able to do and hope that in the future I may be able to do more.
