Giving Tuesday campaign encourages giving flowers

The American Floral Endowment (AFE) has announced a new online campaign, “Give Flowers on Giving Tuesday”— to encourage the gift of flowers, during the May 5th #GivingTuesdayNow social media event.

Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. #GivingTuesdayNow was created as a global day of giving and unity that will take place on May 5, as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19.

“With the current state of the economy, and more specifically the floral industry, we made a conscious decision to use this national day of giving to promote Giving Flowers,” says AFE Executive Director Debi Chedester. “We know that our donors are doing everything possible to restart their businesses and AFE wants to help.

“Give Flowers on Giving Tuesday” provides marketing collateral that can be used by anyone in the floral industry and can promote the many emotional benefits that flowers provide. These materials encourage consumers to give flowers and to use this national day of giving to appreciate and express gratitude. Consumers should be encouraged to give flowers to raise spirits of those making a difference on the front lines and to those they can’t be with during the COVID-19 pandemic. Expressions of love, thanks, and missing loved ones is felt among us all. Thanks to dedicated florists all over, you can express your message to a loved one no matter how far away.

A collection of images has been designed that can be downloaded and used to promote 'Giving Flowers on Giving Tuesday.’ The most important part of this campaign is the collaboration of businesses and individuals to promote the gift of flowers on this day of giving, which coincidentally falls on the Tuesday preceding Mother’s Day. “Having Giving Tuesday fall less than a week before Mother’s Day and having social media flooded with flower-giving messages during this week could potentially give a boost to Mother's Day sales,” says Ken Young, AAF, owner of Phoenix Flower Shops, and chairman of AFE's public relations committee.

So, in addition to promoting Mother’s Day, don’t forget to promote Giving Tuesday on May 5, to get a jump start on your Mother’s Day business. And to get even more traction, be sure to include the hashtag #GivingTuesdayNow in your social media messaging so the millions of others participating are reminded to give flowers.

Visit endowment.org/GivingTuesday for downloadable images, and be sure to use the #InThisTogether #FlowerPower #GivingTuesdayNow hashtags on social media.