This year, we hope to again break fundraising records for sanctuaries and rescue centers caring for chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons. Even the smallest donation can help a sanctuary that is working every day to provide food, enrichment, and veterinary care to their apes; to fund needed facility expansion or maintenance; and to continue their pre-release care and post-release monitoring of apes being returned to the wild.
You can help by supporting one or more participating sanctuaries. Early donations begin on Tuesday September 16th at midnight EDT, with all online donations added to participants' leaderboard totals to give them a chance to win one or more monetary prizes. Let's make this the most successful Giving Day for Apes yet!
On October 7, 2025, Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) will present the 12th annual Giving Day for Apes. Each year, Giving Day for Apes is an opportunity for sanctuaries and rescue centers throughout North America, Africa and Asia that care for apes to raise funds, raise awareness about their work, and compete for prizes throughout the day.
Giving Day for Apes was initiated by Arcus Foundation in 2014 (as "Great Ape Giving Day") to provide capacity and skills training for ape sanctuaries and rescue centers in using social media. The event started small - piloted in the first year for ape sanctuaries in Africa, and in the following year for North American sanctuaries. In 2016, GFAS partnered with Arcus Foundation to co-host the first Giving Day for Apes for participants from three continents - including for the first time Asian sanctuaries and rescue centers. The event was renamed Giving Day for Apes to signify the inclusion of gibbons (the "lesser ape"), present in a number of rehabilitation centers in their native habitat in Asia as well as in sanctuary care in North America. In 2019, GFAS became the sole presenter of the event.
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