October 5, 2000 | Read Time: 3 minutes
By HOLLY HALL
Some charities have started getting birthday gifts, not on their own anniversaries, but on the birth dates of their donors and volunteers.
College Summit, a Washington charity that helps inner-city kids nationwide prepare
ALSO SEE:
Attracting Donations Creatively
Animal Sculptures: Milking the Idea of Art for a Cause
A Chip off the Old Auction Block: Bidding on Services to Help Others
An Annual Treasure Hunt That Yields Riches for Charity
for college, for example, was the beneficiary when Deborah Levy, a longtime donor, decided she wanted to celebrate her 35th birthday by raising money for the charity. Ms. Levy, who lives in New York, sent a “Happy Birthday to Me” letter to 100 friends and family members, asking them to help her mark the milestone by contributing to her goal of raising $5,000 for the charity. More than 60 people responded, sending the organization more than $8,000.
College Summit, the charity, was so impressed with Ms. Levy’s fund-raising idea that it plans to send a mailing about it to about 500 donors, in hopes they will follow her example. Already, two people who received the letter from Ms. Levy say they plan to send out a similar letter on their birthdays to benefit their own favorite charities.
Other charities, realizing the potential of such fund-raising efforts, are actively promoting birthday giving.
Cook Children’s Medical Center, in Fort Worth, started a “Peter Pan Birthday Club” last year to encourage philanthropy among youngsters age 10 to 18. To promote the idea, the medical center mailed 26,000 postcards to area households with children and included the same information in a newsletter it sends to parents.
The medical center suggested that when children send birthday-party invitations to their friends, they enclose a card and envelope provided by the medical center. The card reads: “I’ve joined the Peter Pan Birthday Club! Instead of buying me a present, please bring a monetary donation for Cook Children’s Medical Center.”
The young guests put their contribution in the envelope, seal it, and write the name of the child holding the birthday party, as well as their own name, address, and telephone number, on the outside.
At the party, the host collects the envelopes and sends them to the medical center. The envelopes are included to make it easy for children to keep the amount of their gift confidential. And by getting the addresses of the young donors, the hospital can invite them to a reception with hospital officials who serve refreshments, thank the children, and tell them how their gifts are being used. The children also get a short tour of the facilities. Parents are welcome.
“We felt very strongly that this part about bringing the kids to the hospital needed to be included,” says Beth Solomon, a spokeswoman for the medical center. Ms. Solomon’s own 10-year-old son held a Peter Pan Party that raised $75 last month.
So far, Ms. Solomon says, five or six other parties, all raising about the same amount, have been held, and several more are in the works. The parties are never expected to be lucrative fund-raising events, she says, but they are a cost-effective way for the medical center to cement relations with future donors, as well as their parents.
For more information, contact Beth Solomon, Public Relations Specialist, Cook Children’s Medical Center, 801 Seventh Avenue, Fort Worth 76104-9958; (817) 885-4007; bethso@cookchildrens.org.
