The Great Give Business Fundraiser's Toolkit

The support of local businesses and the amplification of their support via their employees and their customers is critical to the success of The Great Give! Not only does your participation help ensure a successful day of fundraising for our nonprofits, but your dedication to their important work will be recognized throughout Greater New Haven. For The Great Give, we're offering your business an opportunity to engage your employees and customers to donate to causes they're passionate about, and in turn, bring invaluable visibility to your business.

How can I be successful in spreading philanthropy to my employees and customers? Check out the Business Toolkit below for ideas on running a successful fundraiser. We've supplied marketing resources, communication templates, and ideas around incentives and celebrations to really engage your employees and customers in giving, and how they can further spread your message to their networks.

Want to see who else is involved in the Greater New Haven community? Find your favorite participating nonprofits here, and participating businesses here.

Interested in learning more about The Great Give and the value to your business? Contact info@givegab.com.

How do I run a successful fundraiser for my business?

The number one recommendation for running a successful fundraiser for The Great Give is that you are truly celebrating and encouraging the act of philanthropy - big and small! Here are some tips, tricks, and ideas on how to encourage you employees and your customers to rally around philanthropy, and the single largest fundraiser in the Greater New Haven community!

Share the The Great Give site with your employees and encourage them to find a nonprofit or two that speaks to the causes they care about! You can share thegreatgive.org with customers on your receipt, or hand out info cards with each purchase with your and The Great Give information on it (check out some great graphics to use, here). With so many participating nonprofits, there's a nonprofit or cause for everyone!

Your business fundraiser page can report on employee participation rates, number of donors, and dollars raised! Pick a stat and set a goal and share that out. Throughout the day (on May 1-2), share the progress with your employees and customers and celebrate those milestones. You can also offer incentives to employees and customers as your hit those milestones! See some ideas below.

Decide if your business will offer a match to all employees or customers gifts, or to a specific nonprofit. We've found matching gifts can amplify giving by 3 or 4 times!

Communicate your participation in The Great Give through email messages, social media posts, and word of mouth.

What incentives or celebrations can I offer to my employees or customers?

As you hit your giving day milestones or to just celebrate the giving spirit of The Great Give, plan some fun and excitement in at your business or office on May 1-2. We have some ideas below, but the sky's the limit in how you can engage your employees and customers, and encourage philanthropy in The Great Give!

Employee Incentives

Encourage your employees to participate in The Great Give by offering these incentives:
  • Food: Cater a snack break, host a pot luck, or a dessert party to celebrate giving
  • Attire: Have a casual dress day so employees can dress to represent the agency or cause they care about
  • Advertise: Pass out “I Gave” stickers to employees who gave to celebrate the causes they care about
  • Competition: Have a competition between departments to see who can raise the most and offer a prize

Customer Incentives

Encourage your customer to participate in The Great Give by offering these incentives:
  • Discounts: If you have a store front, offer a percentage off of an item if they can show they gave (The Great Give sends out a receipt to each donor for easy access on their phone!).
  • Raffle: Offer a raffle, and every time a donor gives if as entry into the raffle.
  • Happy Hour: Host a happy hour and invite local nonprofits and your customers to meet and mingle!

Celebrations

Encourage your employees or customers to participate in the many events happening around the Greater New Haven community! You can see a full listing of events here. You can also host your own event to encourage participation in The Great Give!

Sample Communications

Use some of these sample communications below to start spreading the word about your business's involvement in The Great Give. When sharing on social media, make sure you're always using the official hashtag, TheGreatGive to be included in the conversation!

Facebook and Twitter

Facebook is the most popular form of social media to share about participation in The Great Give - so make sure you're using it leading up to and on May 1-2! You can use Facebook to share with employees and your customers how you're participating in The Great Give and amplifying the giving efforts.

  • Announce your participation: We are excited to announce our participating in TheGreatGive on May 1-2! Find out why we're participating on our page here: [YOUR BUSINESS LINK] and mark your calendars for May 1-2 to give to your favorite nonprofits!
  • If you're offering a match: Today, our business is focused on improving on community by matching all our employees' gifts made to nonprofits through TheGreatGive! There are over 450 number of nonprofits participating to improve the lives of our community members. Find your cause and give today, May 1-2, at thegreatgive.org.
  • If you're offering an incentive to employees or customers: [Business name] is supporting TheGreatGive on May 1-2 and offering a gift basket to any customer that gives today. Stop on in today after you give through thegreatgive.org and show us your receipt to be eligible!
  • Celebrate the success you achieved for the day: Wow. We are in awe of the amazing employees and customers we have. Collectively, we were able to raise $X with X donors for the nonprofits participating in TheGreatGive. We couldn't do this without all of you, and your amazing support of our community and the nonprofits you all chose to give to on The Great Give. Thank you.

Instagram

Share pictures of your business, employees, and customers participating in The Great Give on Instagram. If you're having a dress down day in the office, offering a raffle, or hosting (or encouraging attendance at) an event, share all of these events on Instagram! Make sure you're using the hashtag so people can keep up: TheGreatGive!

Emails

Social media is a great tool for spreading the word to people that follow you on social media, however, there is no substitute for a direct, targeted email to your employees, customers, or even personal network. Consider sending emails that correspond to your social media activity, as well as direct targeted asks. Here is a sample email to get you thinking on how you want to spread the word!

Subject: Help us support the nonprofits who make this community great! Join [BUSINESS NAME] for TheGreatGive


Dear [employees/customers/person],

On May 1-2 businesses and individuals across our Greater New Haven community will come together to support our local nonprofits during The Great Give. We are so excited to be part of this exciting giving event as a business fundraiser to show everyone in the community how philanthropic our employees and customers are.

Haven’t heard about The Great Give? It is Greater New Haven's 36-hour giving day supporting the nonprofit agencies who help make our community such a great place to live! Last year, nearly $3.5M was raised for 515 local nonprofits in The Great Give. You can head to thegreatgive.org now to learn more about this amazing giving event.

[IF OFFERING MATCH]: Your donations to local nonprofits at thegreatgive.org will be amplified because we are offering bonus dollars as an incentive to give. [Describe program here i.e. dollar for dollar, up to a certain amount, lump sum to reach goal etc.]

There are so many ways to participate - spread the word about this amazing event, become a fundraiser for your favorite nonprofit, donate on May 1-2. Make supporting your favorite cause unique to you!

To make sure your gift [is matched / is counted in our business's totals], follow these steps:

  1. Find your favorite nonprofit! Visit thegreatgive.org to search hundreds of participating nonprofits in our community.
  2. Commit to a nonprofit. You can start donating as soon as the site opens on May 1-2. Remember to select [Business Name] at checkout!
  3. Spread the word! Let your network know about The Great Give and who you are supporting. Use the hashtag TheGreatGive to be part of the conversation.

For questions about The Great Give and how you can get involved please visit thegreatgive.org or contact [Business Name].

Regards,
[Business Contact]