• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 2, 2015

In a race to catch the attention of kind-hearted Millennials, #GivingTuesday is working all kinds of digital angles, including a virtual-reality app that lets donors see the impact of their gifts, brick by brick, zooming past the world’s tallest buildings.

It’s just one of the ways Giving Tuesday is evolving. Launched back in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y in New York, the event has expanded to more than 30,000 partners in 68 countries, from enormous charities to very small ones. Dozens of brands, including Levi Strauss, Zappos and JCPenney, are promoting their involvement on social media. Old Navy shoppers who post an #UNselfie, for example, will trigger a donation. PayPal is offering a 1% match. And anyone participating in Walgreens’ “Get a Shot. Give a Shot” program will double the donation of vaccinations.

With all that noise, “we’ve been trying to think of ways to engage people more deeply each year,” says Emily Hawkins, director of partnerships and business development for Crowdrise, a platform used by such nonprofits as It Gets Better, Easter Seals, March of Dimes, and the USO. The Giving Tower lets people make a donation and then see their brick added to the building, which is then contrasted with well-known skyscrapers. (Last we checked, the tower was 2,960 feet tall, with an aggregate $1.94 million from more than 14,700 donations. That’s even taller than the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, in Dubai.)

“We wanted to show the massive impact of all these organizations and all these donors. So we came up with the notion of a tower that would let them see when they collectively passed the John Hancock Building, or the Eiffel Tower. There is something very iconic and emotive about building something real, and at zero cost.”

Last year’s campaign raised $4.1 million, but didn't quite reach the Dubai landmark. This year, its goal is the moon.

While the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is the official day, most nonprofits focus on the seasonal goodwill that runs from Thanksgiving through Dec. 31. And it started off strong, with a 225% increase in the number of online donations compared to the daily average, according to GivingTuesday.org. By 9 a.m., the #GivingTuesday hashtag was already trending. 

It helps that this year it coincides with World AIDS Day, with everyone from Bono to George Clooney to Tom Brady drumming up good feelings on social media, and cities around the world turning their landmarks red for the occasion.

It’s also a good time for nonprofits to release new appeals. The National Children’s Alliance, for example, just released a new spot, pointing out that Americans give about $2 billion to animal charities, and just $495 million to help children. (M&C Saatchi is the agency.) 

A survey from Crossroads -- a Kansas City-based PR firm with a specialty in cause branding -- finds that 38% of Millennials intend to participate in #GivingTuesday somehow, up from 8% last year. And 62% say they plan to do so by donating food, clothing or other items.