With the holiday season quickly approaching, we’re sharing 6 inspiring holiday events that our clients are hosting this year to support their communities. These organizations are doing inspirational support for the people in their communities, and expanding the reach of their events to make an even larger impact by utilizing GivePulse features.
Host a Holiday Party with Help from Community Volunteers
Mile High United Way is hosting its annual Children’s Holiday Party and has an exciting announcement this year. After careful planning, the party will be held in person with over 300 families invited to attend! Mile High United Way is bridging the gap for families that will have a difficult time this holiday season. Visit the Mile High United Way event page to find opportunities to show your support. Ways to get involved range from volunteering to sort toys to purchasing Amazon wish list items for the families or donating funds to help provide families with Thanksgiving dinner, dessert, and even holiday gifts.
Host a Run or Walk to Draw Support for your Cause
Instead of watching the parade on Thanksgiving morning, consider jogging for a cause to help work up your appetite. Life Time Fitness is hosting their annual 5k & 8k Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving in Chicago to help support the Greater Chicago Area Food Depository! Register online for the event here or sign up to volunteer on their GivePulse page. Volunteers will receive swag from the run such as a T-Shirt, beanie, water, a meal, and service hours. Don’t live in the Chicago area? Explore other opportunities to find a Turkey trot near you.
Create a Virtual Wishlist to Allow Supporters from Near and Far
Developmental Services Center (DSC), located in Champaign, Illinois, is holding a Holiday Wish List Fundraiser to support individuals living within the DSC Residential Program who, without this drive, may not receive gifts this holiday season. Their wish list items are easily accessible through their GivePulse event page for supporters to securely purchase within the platform. To learn more about how to utilize this fundraising feature for your own organization, schedule a meeting with one of our success managers!
Partner with a Hospital to Support Children
This year the University of Oklahoma is hosting their third annual Adopt a Child Drive hosted by the Office of Leadership and Volunteerism. This event supports children at the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital during the holiday season by providing gifts and small comforts. The Adopt a Child Drive offers the option to participate both in person and virtually by either purchasing items directly from their page, or independently buying items similar to the ones posted to their GivePulse page and sending them to the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. This event is a great example of broadening your reach by allowing supporters to participate from near and far.
Connect your Community with Families in Need of Holiday Support
Utah State University is holding a Holiday Gift Fundraiser for children and their families this year! Participants can support this fundraiser virtually or in-person – all you need to do to participate is fill out a quick survey to indicate sponsorship details like how many children you would like to sponsor if you would like to donate towards a gift card for the parents, and more. In addition, you can either opt to buy gifts on your own, or request that volunteers purchase the gifts with your donation, making it easy to participate in this event remotely! USU is also utilizing the GivePulse sustainable development goals feature to show volunteers and registrants just how they are making an impact on their community.
Pro Tip: During event creation, you are able to choose your sustainable development goals by going into “Edit” and then clicking on “Advanced.” Once you are there, there will be a tab titled “SDGs” where you can choose from a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals that best fit your event! SDGs are great because they allow volunteers and registrants to see the impacts you are making, but users are also able to refine their searches by SDGs.
Meet a Specific Community Need by Hosting a Drive
Pikes Peak United Way is hosting a coat drive this season to help kids in El Paso County stay warm this year! To make their event more accessible, Pikes Peak is also utilizing the virtual event mode to help individuals donate from anywhere in the country. They have created a registry of items that they would like for the kids in El Paso County and made it easily accessible from their GivePulse event page.
All of these fantastic events are utilizing great features from the GivePulse platform to help spread awareness for their cause from fundraising, virtual donation drives, and even allowing users to directly buy and donate gifts from their event page. If you are interested in utilizing some of the great features GivePulse has to offer and expanding your engagement, schedule a call with us to help organize your next event.