PRSA member Eric Porterfield is the senior communications director, United Nations Foundation, a U.S.-based charity that is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government and individual donors. For nearly 20 years, the foundation has built public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems while broadening support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach.
One of those partnerships led to #GivingTuesday, which has been recognized with numerous awards (including a PRSA Silver Anvil) since its creation in 2012.
What type of projects do you work on at the UN Foundation?
I’ve been at the UN Foundation for six years and started as the director of global health communications, working on priorities like ending polio and measles and increasing access to health care through mobile phones. I then worked across our 20+ campaigns and initiatives such as Girl Up, Nothing But Nets and Shot@Life, to communicate complex and important issues to inspire audiences to learn more and take action. In my current position, I work out of our New York office to support the work of the UN — agencies such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the UN Refugee Agency — to highlight the important work being done around the world, and communicate about the Sustainable Development Goals to help end poverty, fight for equality and protect our planet against climate change.
2016 marked the fifth #GivingTuesday. How do you keep it fresh year after year?
While it was launched by the 92Y with support from the UN Foundation, the recognition doesn’t belong to just one organization — it belongs to the huge community of givers, organizations, businesses, schools and religious institutions that have been so creative and innovative and made each year more inspiring than the last. They’re the ones who make #GivingTuesday a global movement that has reached millions of people in communities across the U.S. and in 98 countries around the world. The people and organizations involved are experimental and entrepreneurial, and they continuously find ways to grow and change the movement. It really highlights an extraordinary amount of imagination and shows how social media can be used to make generosity go viral.
What was an unexpected result of the initiative?
It is surprising and inspiring to us the way #GivingTuesday has become both hyper-local — bringing together entire states, like Illinois; cities, like Baltimore and Charlotte; and tiny towns, like Boothbay, Maine, or Bethel, Alaska — while also being global at the same time. People use #GivingTuesday to celebrate what’s best about their community, the local nonprofits, local businesses and local families. It’s an outpouring of civic pride all over the world. It’s also great to see that giving means so much more than money. People give time, advocacy, goods — hugs, ukuleles, barns and thousands of cups of hot coffee were some of the items given on the last #GivingTuesday; all of these represent unexpected but meaningful acts of kindness.
What’s next?
We’re excited about the recent launch of the GivingLab, a new feature on GivingTuesday.org that hosts the best research and data around giving and giving behaviors. The site also gives people an opportunity to weigh in and debate the implications of the findings, and how they can help organizations improve. Additional tools, resources and more webinars will be available this summer.