On Thanksgiving we give thanks. On Black Friday we get deals. On Cyber Monday we get online. And on #GivingTuesday we give back.

In response to the consumer-centric holiday shopping season, the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation launched #GivingTuesday, a one-day event to kick off the holiday giving season on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

In our third year, we focused on educating partners (nonprofits and for-profits alike) to make this global day of charitable giving even more successful for them. Overall, our goals included increasing engagement and content, and encouraging a diverse community to rally behind the movement and partners' campaigns.

We also spurred awareness, giving and volunteering by leveraging partners to generate conversations that inserted #GivingTuesday into national and global dialogues. The popular #UNselfie, which asked people to post a photo of themselves sharing why they give and where, returned--and so did our comms corps, an alliance of top PR agencies who collectively spread the word.

Our campaign was a coordinated, shareable conversation that raised support for charitable causes worldwide. During the three days around the event, the #GivingTuesday and #UNselfie hashtags were tweeted 180 percent more than last year, and 7,600-plus #UNselfie photos were posted on Instagram. The overall campaign received more than 20 billion total media impressions worldwide. And #GivingTuesday's unique blend of partners in 68 countries--charities, families, businesses and individuals--increased to 27,000 from 10,000 the previous year. Most important, charitable giving was up 63 percent worldwide over 2013. #AllGood.

We focused all year on sharing best practices and educating nonprofits and for-profits alike on the best strategies for giving on #GivingTuesday.

Crowdfunding initiatives played a huge role, and there were free tools and resources galore for all partners. Our vast new educational offerings saw larger partners sharing their experience in webinars, meetups and toolkits. We again activated our comms corps, an alliance of top PR agencies, to collectively leverage their expertise and networks; this year they targeted local media no matter the market, including dedicated releases.

#GivingTuesday grew to have activities in 68-plus countries (up from 46 in 2013), so our team worked with many partners and leaders abroad to coordinate branding, messaging and mission in different languages and cultures. And on #GivingTuesday, December 2, we encouraged people to use our tools to share stories and photos about those giving back in real time--inspiring others along the way.

Our coordinated, shareable conversation raised record-breaking support for charitable causes worldwide. In the three days around the event, the #GivingTuesday and

#UNselfie hashtags were each tweeted 180 percent more than 2013, and 7,600-plus #UNselfie photos appeared on Instagram.

The overall campaign received 20 billion–plus media impressions worldwide, from Channel News Asia to The Chronicle of Philanthropy to The Guardian and more.

A bipartisan bill from the U.S. House of Representatives commemorated the day, and endorsements came from U.S. President Obama and U.K. Prime Minister Cameron. We saw significant on-the-ground work, especially abroad, as #GivingTuesday was localized for diverse cultures through #UnDiaParaDar, #DiaDeDoar and other regional campaigns. And most important, on #GivingTuesday, countries around the world reported significant donation spikes, especially in mobile payments, with charitable giving 63 percent higher than in 2013.

We had inspired a diverse global community to rally behind #GivingTuesday and our partners' giving campaigns. #AllGood.