Mohawk Valley Gives 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 Mohawk Valley Gives! 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 Herkimer and Oneida counties. For the Mohawk Valley Gives, 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 Herkimer and Oneida counties community? Find your favorite participating nonprofits here, and participating businesses here.

Interested in learning more about Mohawk Valley Gives and the value to your business? Contact hello@givemv.org.

How do I run a successful fundraiser for my business?

The number one recommendation for running a successful fundraiser for Mohawk Valley Gives 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 Herkimer and Oneida counties community!

Share the Mohawk Valley Gives site with your employees and encourage them to find a nonprofit or two that speaks to the causes they care about! You can share www.givemv.org with customers on your receipt, or hand out info cards with each purchase with your and Mohawk Valley Gives 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 September 20th), 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 Mohawk Valley Gives through email messages, social media posts, and word of mouth.

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

As you hit your giving day milestones or to just celebrate the giving spirit of Mohawk Valley Gives, plan some fun and excitement in at your business or office on September 20th. We have some ideas below, but the sky's the limit in how you can engage your employees and customers, and encourage philanthropy on Mohawk Valley Gives!

Employee Incentives

Encourage your employees to participate in Mohawk Valley Gives 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 Mohawk Valley Gives by offering these incentives:
  • Discounts: If you have a store front, offer a percentage off of an item if they can show they gave (Mohawk Valley Gives 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 Herkimer and Oneida counties community! You can see a full listing of events here. You can also host your own event to encourage participation in Mohawk Valley Gives!

Sample Communications

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

Facebook and Twitter

Facebook is the most popular form of social media to share about participation in giving day - so make sure you're using it leading up to and on September 20th! You can use Facebook to share with employees and your customers how you're participating in Mohawk Valley Gives and amplifying the giving efforts.

  • Announce your participation: We are excited to announce our participating in mohawkvalleygives on September 20th! Find out why we're participating on our page here: [YOUR BUSINESS LINK] and mark your calendars for September 20th to give to your favorite nonprofit!
  • 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 mohawkvalleygives! There are over [X] number of nonprofits participating to improve the lives of our community members. Find your cause and give today, September 20th, at www.givemv.org.
  • If you're offering an incentive to employees or customers: [Business name] is supporting mohawkvalleygives on September 20th and offering a gift basket to any customer that gives today. Stop on in today after you give through www.givemv.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 mohawkvalleygives. 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 Mohawk Valley Gives. Thank you.

Instagram

Share pictures of your business, employees, and customers participating in Mohawk Valley Gives on Instagram. If your 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: mohawkvalleygives!

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 mohawkvalleygives


Dear [employees/customers/person],

On September 20th businesses and individuals across our Herkimer and Oneida counties community will come together to support our local nonprofits during Mohawk Valley Gives. 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 Mohawk Valley Gives? It is Herkimer and Oneida counties's 24-hour giving day supporting the nonprofit agencies who help make our community such a great place to live! [Stats about previous year results]. You can head to www.givemv.org now to learn more about this amazing giving event.

[IF OFFERING MATCH]: Your donations to local nonprofits at www.givemv.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 September 20th. 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 www.givemv.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 September 20th. Remember to select [Business Name] at checkout!
  3. Spread the word! Let your network know about Mohawk Valley Gives and who you are supporting. Use the hashtag mohawkvalleygives to be part of the conversation.

For questions about Mohawk Valley Gives and how you can get involved please visit www.givemv.org or contact [Business Name].

Regards,
[Business Contact]