How to do a Giving Week

Of all the holidays I celebrate, this may be the one I enjoy the most. Giving Week is a made-up holiday, and with it comes the opportunity to make of it what we will. It's a chance to be intentional about practicing generosity, which is proven to help us feel happier as well as assisting those to whom we're giving.

We don't do exactly the same thing each year; on the other hand, you could.

Here's a list of suggestions for getting started on your very own Giving Week.

Pick a date for it to start, and mark your calendar. I started celebrating in early August one year in gratitude for the health of my child, who was born the year before; the first weekend in August is when we celebrated his baptism and dedication in church. I like this time of year because it's far away from the typical "season of giving" (when charities are swamped with donations). But you can choose any time of year that works for you. When do you have time and money to share?


Set a budget. Unfortunately, we cannot solve all the world's problems in this one week. Yet however small our contribution, we can know we're making a difference. I like to aim for the slightly uncomfortable level--enough to make me very careful with the rest of the month's budget. You can set a time budget as well as a financial one. Could you give seven or eight hours, equivalent to a day's work?

Determine the focus of your project(s). What are you called to do for your neighbor? Some years, we choose seven needs to meet in the world, and offer a gift toward one each day (food, water, housing, health care, education, opportunity, encouragement, hope...)
On the other hand, you could pick a single theme for the week, such as environmental stewardship, and choose a related act each day: picking up trash, donating to an advocacy group, doing without animal products, choosing to travel only where you can get under your own power (walking/biking), installing a water-saving shower head, planting a tree, starting to compost food scraps, etc.
Sometimes, we have a local focus, sometimes global. And sometimes we just pick organizations we really like supporting.

Decide whom to invite to celebrate with you. Just you? Your household? Friends or extended family? A club or community group? It was only in the ninth year that I got other people to join a project of mutual interest, and they made such a difference in how much I was able to do.

Set up as needed. You might need to do some research, recruiting, list-making or shopping beforehand, especially for local service or in-kind donations. If you're asking others to join in, the website signupgenius.com is a good way to keep track of who's doing what.


Execute. Make it go! Have fun! Take pictures, if you like, or keep a journal of what you did.

Reflect. How did it go? How are you feeling? Do you want to do anything differently next year? Might you even want to try this more often, even quarterly? Or is there one organization you'd like to help regularly?

You might notice that GW leaves you feeling energized and happy. There is little or no recovery needed afterward, like decorations to put away or extra food to consume, probably nothing to dispose of or have cleaned. You've made some little corner of the world a bit brighter.

Songs and Stories for Giving Week

It's nice to have a little inspiration, isn't it? Here are some songs and stories to help us along in growing into generosity.

Love Reaches Out is my favorite for this.

"Answering the Call of Love" is #1014 in Singing the Journey. (The song was formerly titled "Standing on the Side of Love.") Also in this little teal hymnal are

• "Building a New Way,"
• "Come and Go with Me,"
•  "Lean on Me," and
• "Love Knocks and Waits for Us to Hear."

"For All that is Our Life" is in Singing the Living Tradition. "To build the common good/ And make our own days glad" is definitely the spirit of Giving Week.
Other songs to check out in this volume include

• "Love Will Guide Us," 
• "Be That Guide," 
• "We'll Build a Land," 
• "From the Crush of Wealth and Power," and 
• "Can I See Another's Woe?"--all these are close together in the low 100s, since the book is organized thematically. 
• "We Would Be One," is another good one, and there's also 
• "What Gift Can We Bring."
• From You I Receive is a simple song suited for all ages in Singing the Living Tradition as well, and also printed in the children's hymnal Come, Sing a Song with Me.

"I Will Not Pass By" by Joyce Poley is a song based, of course, on the story of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25...). I haven't found the song online anywhere.
From the book of Matthew (chapter 25, verses 35-40) we have direct instructions on giving generously.

The Power of Half is the story of a family who decided that generosity was worth making huge changes in their lives. Here's a news article that sums it up.

If you like Ted talks, there are several about generosity on YouTube.

After a few years, I found that there are other people who celebrate Giving Week in India and Singapore. That's neat. I'd love to see it catch on that way in the US as well.

Enjoy. :)