To build on the buzz of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the 92nd Street Y, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, launched #GivingTuesday, a one-day event that unites influencers, corporations and nonprofits to give back on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

In 2013, our second year, we mobilized 10,000-plus partners (charities or for-profits committed to volunteering or donating to registered charities) in 46 countries through social initiatives and platforms.

We introduced the #UNselfie, or selfless selfie, by inviting people to take photos of themselves supporting a charitable cause. Our team also activated the first-ever comms corps, an alliance of top PR agencies that collectively leveraged their expertise and networks to make communications and PR around the initiative a great success.

Together, we targeted a wide array of media (many of whom we knew from last year's campaign) and deputized #GivingTuesday's Social Media Ambassadors and partners to expand our reach to local and national media.

Digital activation included all major social platforms, including the first donate-able Hangout-a-thon (a 12-hour Google+ Hangout). Engagement was incredible, gaining more than 2 billion impressions on Twitter alone on December 3 (the hashtag was tweeted as much as 700 times per minute), a 440 percent increase in activity on Facebook (compared with the previous week) and 7,000-plus #UNselfies posted.

#GivingTuesday received 1.3 billion media impressions worldwide. Most importantly, according to Blackbaud, a leading nonprofit technology partner, U.S. online giving rose 90 percent (and in other countries even higher) for Blackbaud's customers when compared with #GivingTuesday 2012.

Influencing reporters and the public to look beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday was key to launching #GivingTuesday. Beginning in summer 2013, we targeted a wide range of media and empowered #GivingTuesday's Social Media Ambassadors and partners to spread the word by providing digital/social and #UNselfie toolkits that included sample graphics, posts and tweets that partners could grab to promote their own campaigns.

We also shared strategies with them through Google+ Hangouts and Twitter chats. Our team encouraged information sharing through digital properties including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, givingtuesday.org and the first donate-able Hangout-a-thon, a 12-hour Google+ Hangout.

We activated the first-ever comms corps, an alliance of top PR agencies, and together launched a media rollout in September, then tailored pitches for reporters covering key sectors like philanthropy.

On December 3, we inspired others to use tools and resources we made available to share stories and photos about people giving back.

Our campaign was a coordinated conversation that raised support for causes worldwide. On Twitter alone, #GivingTuesday had over 2 billion impressions and the hashtag trended for 10 straight hours (tweeted up to 700 times per minute).

On Facebook, 300 million impressions were made that day and our reach grew 440% during the week before #GivingTuesday.

More than 7,000 #UNselfies appeared on Instagram and other platforms, and we garnered 1.3 billion media impressions in outlets around the globe.

With the new involvement of the UN Development Programme and UN Volunteers, volunteer-led projects took place around the globe, including tree planting in Jordan and a blood drive in Burundi. Mexico's weeklong #UnDiaParaDar campaign saw online donations increase by 20,700% over 2012; Israel's first #GivingTuesday raised 1 million NIS (US$300,000); and Canada's charitable donations rose 169%. In the U.S., online giving increased by 90% for Blackbaud's nonprofit customers compared with #GivingTuesday 2012. #GoodStuff.