It was the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, a massive global summit to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit and envision “the future we want,” as the tagline went. Thousands of people from all over the world gathered in Rio de Janeiro. In a ballroom, philanthropists, UN leaders, rock stars, and the entire staff of Virgin Unite were listening to Richard Branson speak. But off to the side, Henry Timms, then executive director of the 92Y, and Aaron Sherinian, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for the UN Foundation, were conspiring to create a day in which people could celebrate giving. They beckoned Susan McPherson, then vice president at the communications agency Fenton, over to help. While in the background, people were applauding and clinking drinks, the three were drawing on a napkin, envisioning a counterbalance to the consumerism of Black Friday. Five months later, Giving Tuesday was born, with one key goal: as McPherson described it to us, “to celebrate all those who give, volunteer, and care, especially at a time of the year when so much focus is on purchasing.” Since 2012, it has grown into a movement in nearly 100 countries that each year catalyzes billions of dollars to worthy causes, most of it in places its founders will never visit. “None of us could imagine how much it would grow all these years later,” McPherson reminisced.
They had no idea that scribbled on that napkin was a blueprint for change that would endure. But they could have bet on it.
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