‘Tis the season: the giving season, that is!
Taking place on Dec. 2nd, Giving Tuesday marks the opening day of the giving season. Giving Tuesday follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday – two of the biggest shopping days of the year – and it is a day where charities, companies and individuals rally for their favourite causes to promote charitable giving and volunteering.
The John Petropoulos Memorial Fund (JPMF) is a proud partner of the Giving Tuesday movement and there are several ways you can show support for us and the start of the giving season this year:
WATCH OUR NEW YOUTUBE VIDEOS AND SHARE THEM
We have created two new videos to raise awareness about our charity on Giving Tuesday. One of the videos introduces viewers to Const. John Petropoulos, while the other educates people about the work being done by the charity that bears his name. Check them out:
Please share these videos with people you know – via email and social media – and please let us know what you think of them by leaving comments.
PROMOTE GIVING TUESDAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Giving Tuesday is a popular online movement, particularly on social media. So one of the best ways you can help out is simply by liking, retweeting and commenting on our posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn on Dec. 2nd. And when you’re posting and tweeting, don’t forget to use #GivingTuesdayCa and #JPMF in your updates. Those hashtags make it easier for people to find out more about our Giving Tuesday initiatives. If you’re not sure what to say, you can simply write about why you support us.
JOIN THE UNSELFIE MOVEMENT
Another great way to help us online is by posting an unselfie. Not sure what that is? An unselfie is a twist on the “selfie” – a picture someone takes of him or herself and shares on social media. But the unselfie has a charitable component to it. The easiest way to make an unselfie is to write on a piece of paper the name of the charity you support and why you support them. Use that piece of paper to cover most of your face (because it’s supposed to be unselfish) and post it to social media with the tags #UNselfie and #GivingTuesdayCA.
SET UP YOUR OWN FUNDRAISER
There are all kinds of different ways you can fundraise for the charities you believe in. And it only takes a few minutes to set up a fundraising page or a crowdfunding campaign. CanadaHelps, Greedy Giver and Chimp all offer excellent resources that allow individuals to create fundraising campaigns by setting their own targets, creating personalized web pages and rallying their friends. These fundraising pages take care of donation processing and offer instant charitable tax receipts to donors.
BE A MATCHMAKER
One of the best ways of maximizing charitable contributions is through matching donations. Essentially, that means that a person or a company will match donations given to a charity over a certain period. Corporate partners typically put a ceiling on the total donations they will match (up to $10,000, for example) and this is a great way of generating positive publicity for generous companies. It’s also an excellent way of encouraging individuals to donate because their contributions can double in size.
In addition to matching donations, companies can also offer donations based on social media activity. In that scenario, corporations can pledge anywhere from a nickel to a dollar to $10 to the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund for each time #GivingTuesdayCA (or another tag) is posted or tweeted on Dec. 2nd.
Giving Tuesday provides a great opportunity to talk to your employer about supporting the JPMF with matching donations or social media fundraising campaigns. All you have to do is ask!
SEND A CHARITY GIFT CARD
Yes, there is a gift card for charitable giving! Thanks to CanadaHelps (an organization which helps link online donors with worthy charities), you can now send charity gift cards to friends and loved ones this holiday season. Gift givers can design the card, set the donation amount, determine the delivery date and include a personal message. The card can be emailed directly to the recipient or the person giving the card can print it off and deliver it personally.
And you don’t even have to select the charity ahead of time. The person receiving the gift card gets to choose who to donate the funds to. As well, a notification and a charitable tax receipt is sent to the gift giver when the donation is redeemed.
DONATE OR VOLUNTEER
Of course, nothing quite gives like giving itself. You can always show your support by making an online donation to us or you can give of your time and volunteer. If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact our Managing Director Ian Wilson at ian@jpmf.ca to discuss volunteer opportunities. We participate in several community events throughout the year and there are also volunteer roles that require specific talents. Let us know how you can help!
(Giving) Season’s Greetings from the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund!