UMC #GivingTuesday gifts have twice the impact

Online donations to The Advance matched on Dec. 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kick off the season of giving by making an online donation to mission through The Advance on #GivingTuesday, December 3, and double the impact of your gift.

United Methodists are encouraged to sustain the spirit of Thanksgiving into the Advent season by participating in UMC #GivingTuesday. On that date, online gifts to any project through The Advance, the designated giving channel of The United Methodist Church, will be matched 100% up to the first $500,000 in gifts received online between 12:00 a.m. EST and 11:59 p.m. A maximum of $10,000 per individual gift to a project will be disbursed as matching fund. A project may receive a maximum of $50,000 in matching funds. As always, 100 percent of every gift to The Advance goes to the intended ministry; no administrative costs are taken from donations.

#GivingTuesday is a national day of giving following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday that celebrates and encourages charitable giving.

"Life itself is a gift, and because we have received from a gracious God, then we find great joy and fulfillment in giving to others," said Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, president of the board of the General Board of Global Ministries. "Giving Tuesday is a great opportunity to honor friends, relatives and loved ones with an alternative gift that will increase justice and mercy in the world."

Since its founding in 1948, The Advance has helped channel more than three million gifts totaling more than $1 billion to thousands of projects and ministries around the world, including the current work of more than 300 missionaries in more than 60 countries. It serves more than 850 Methodist-related projects--all of which have gone through a rigorous review process and are accountable for how funds are used.

Gifts through The Advance can bring healing and hope to survivors of natural or civil disasters, fight malaria and AIDS, help communities build churches, dig wells, feed and educate children, equip hospitals and clinics or support missionaries.100% of every gift made through The Advance goes directly to the Advance project designated by the donor.

Those missionaries are changing the world by changing lives at the local level. As an example, in Cambodia, a country damaged by war where children make up half of the population, missionaries protect children from being trafficked and offer them an education. In three of the four poorest counties in Oklahoma, which leads the U.S. in hunger, missionaries serve among the Cherokee tribe to provide food support for children and the elderly.

A variety of UMC #GivingTuesday web banners and other tools have been created to help annual conferences, local churches, ministries and individuals promote this special giving event. Visit www.umcmission.org/GivingTuesday to share these opportunities within your network.

To make an online gift to any Advance project or the missionary community on UMC #GivingTuesday, go to www.umcmission.org/give.

SOURCE United Methodist Communications

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