How to Engage in Charitable Giving During the Holidays
The true spirit of the holiday season comes from giving thanks for what we have and lending a helping hand to those in need. There’s a remarkable power in this act of generosity — for both the giver and receiver — bringing people together, dissolving differences, and acknowledging our shared humanity.
For Our Little Roses, that’s our mission every day. Whether it’s through an individual sponsorship or a mission trip, we create opportunities for our girls and our supporters to truly connect. And from these beautiful connections, everyone benefits.
As you consider your charitable giving during the holidays, we’d like to offer some simple, yet impactful ways you can help Our Little Roses do even more for our girls in 2020.
Easy and Fun Ways to Support Our Little Roses This Holiday Season
GivingTuesday
GivingTuesday is a movement to create an international day of charitable giving at the beginning of the holiday season. It takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. Following two major shopping holidays, Black Friday & Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday serves as a reminder for those to give back to those less fortunate. This year, it falls on December 3rd.
To add a little fun and silliness to the event, we’ve challenged our supporters and followers with our toughest tongue twister. Best of all, with a generous $10,000 matching gift, donations will go twice as far this year! Here’s how to participate:
- LIKE & FOLLOW Our Little Roses on Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter)
- FILM yourself saying the following Spanish Tongue Twister (trabalengua) THREE TIMES FAST! “Poquito a poquito Paquito empaca poquitas copitas en pocos paquetes”
- UPLOAD video to your favorite social platform
- TAG Our Little Roses and use the hashtags #OLRGivingTuesday, #OLRChallenge, & #GivingTuesday
- CHALLENGE one of your friends to join you on this day of Global Giving by completing the challenge as well – spreading awareness & advocacy for our girls.
- SHARE Your challenge video!
The person with the most likes and shares will receive a handmade gift from the girls of Our Little Roses!
GivingTuesday is a great opportunity for Our Little Roses to raise awareness. We hope you’ll participate in our tongue twister challenge. And if not, be sure to donate — we have a generous matching grant up to $10,000.
Amazon Smile
If you’re like most of us, you do a fair amount of shopping on Amazon, especially during the holidays. Through the AmazonSmile program, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to a charity of your choice.
All you need to do is start your shopping at smile.amazon.com and select Our Little Roses as your recipient. Then, shop as you normally would on the site. There’s no extra cost to you, and you don’t need to make a separate account. Easy!
Also, Amazon periodically increases the donation percentage temporarily — so be sure to follow us on social media so you know when to make that big purchase!
RoundUp
Another great way to effortlessly support Our Little Roses is the RoundUp app. This free, secure encrypted app will tally the total change of your transactions at the end of the month and send a deposit directly to your selected nonprofit. It only takes about a minute to set up and all donations are tax-deductible. Like the Amazon program, it gives Our Little Roses consistent income that adds up over time. Plus, the more you share with others, the more it adds up!
Benevity
Is your employer partnered with Benevity? Benevity offers a “Matching Gift” program for those who wish to give back to any particular nonprofit (501c3) organization, like Our Little Roses. This is a great way to give while securing a dollar for dollar match of your donation through your employer.
Start Your Own Holiday Fundraiser
In addition to the ideas above, we also welcome your own creativity. Here are some fundraising ideas to encourage charitable giving during the holidays amongst your family and friends.
Gift Wrapping
Identify a large retailer like WalMart or a local mall where there are lots of holiday shoppers. Ask if you can set up a table and offer “free” gift wrapping for a donation to Our Little Roses. Don’t forget to ask if the retailer will donate the gift wrapping supplies! Make some creative handouts so shoppers can learn more about Our Little Roses while they wait.
Wreath Sales
Partner with a local florist to sell holiday wreaths. Or, gather a team and make your own. See if your local craft store would be willing to donate the supplies or offer a discount. Be sure to incorporate a special rose into the wreath to symbolize our girls. You could take orders a month in advance, giving you time to educate potential donors about Our Little Roses’ mission and the symbolism of the rose.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Page
Through a partnership with Network for Good, Our Little Roses has an easy-to-use online fundraising platform that you can use to request donations from your community. You’ll have all the tools you need to craft a special holiday appeal, provide a secure donation process, and thank your donors personally. With a simple click, you can post your page on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or via email. You can also copy the link to share on Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, or Pinterest – or anywhere else!
Ugly Sweater Party
Very few things say Christmas like ugly Christmas sweaters! A lot of people have a Christmas sweater lying around, so this is a fun and easy Christmas fundraising idea. Make it a contest that participants pay to enter into – and may the ugliest sweater win!
You can also get your social media followers on board and have them donate to the campaign.
Christmas Cookies Bake-Off
Baking events are an almost guaranteed fundraising win. Organize a bake-off, a bake sale, or even a Christmas Cookies Swap.
Christmas Cookies Swap is a very interesting way to make everyone’s life easier during the holiday season. The idea is to have people bring in several dozens of their favorite homemade Christmas cookies. Everyone takes one of each, and then every participant leaves with a box of a dozen of each cookie to take home.
Or maybe get one started at your school or church! The more the merrier! If you’re really adventurous – you could combine the event with a lot of other fun fundraising activities: selling warm winter drinks, inviting a celebrity baker (cookbook author or food columnist) to demonstrate some tricks, maybe have your rector/priest give out their baking secret or perhaps by selling baking supplies.
You could even partner with local businesses such as specialty wine shops, delis, bakeries, and trendy hot spots to offer even more food-related items for sale. You can charge a stand fee or just get a percentage of the profits.
Holiday Soiree
Holiday soiree sounds fancy. The truth is, you can make it as fancy as you wish. It can be a small get-together or a full-blown gala. Host a nice dinner party and invite all of your closest friends, colleagues, etc.
Work with local restaurants, museums, galleries, orchestras, to secure the space, food, and entertainment. Charge per person/plate to keep costs manageable on your end. You can pair this soiree with an auction or a raffle, but you can also organize it as a stand-alone event.
With eggnog, hot chocolate, mulled cider and wine – who wouldn’t want to attend?
Christmas Carols
Christmas carols can be another effective Christmas fundraising idea. This type of fundraising event is perfect for religious group choirs, youth groups, high school clubs, local music talent, and family and friends.
What a wonderful way to bring Christmas Cheer to your neighborhood, be sure to let people know you’re Carolling for Our Little Roses. You can either have the caroling at an event or have your choir(s) go door-to-door.
—
As you can see, there are many ways to support Our Little Roses this holiday season. Whether you round up your change while you’re shopping, create a holiday fundraiser, or tackle our tongue twisters for GivingTuesday, we appreciate your support! It goes a long way toward giving these girls everything they deserve. Happy Holidays!