Workplace Giving Toolkit

Thank you for fundraising for Donate Life America. Your dedication and support of our mission gives HOPE to the more than 115,000 people waiting for a lifesaving transplant TODAY.

For additional information on workplace giving, please contact Casey News at cnews@donatelife.net or 804-377-3589.

Donate Life America’s Workplace Fundraising Toolkit includes a vast array of resources designed to support you in your workplace fundraising campaign. From fundraising ideas to talking points and fact sheets – it’s all right here! About Us Donate Life America (DLA) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit alliance of national organizations and Donate Life State Teams across the United States dedicated to saving and healing lives through increased organ, eye and tissue donation. Donate Life America, with the help of its corporate partners, is committed to spreading the word about the importance of being a registered donor so that others may live. Our vision is a nation that embraces organ, eye and tissue donation as a fundamental human responsibility. Donate Life America manages and promotes the national brand for donation, Donate Life℠, and assists Donate Life State Teams and national partners in facilitating high-performing donor registries; developing and executing effective multi-media donor education programs; and motivating the American public to register now as organ, eye and tissue donors. The Need is Critical

•  Currently, more than 115,000 United States citizens are awaiting a life-saving transplant including more than 2,000 children.

•  18 people die every day because an organ has not been made available for them. •  Someone new gets added to the waitlist every 10 minutes. Section 1: Workplace Fundraisers Organize these activities at your workplace to raise awareness and funds for Donate Life America and our mission. For more information on how to implement these fundraisers, please contact Casey News. Silent Auction: Ask everyone in your office or department to donate something – a gift card to salon or massage parlor, a movie night gift basket, a week of packed lunches – and choose a suggested value range for the items (we suggest between $25 and $50). Set up the auction at the beginning of the week and leave the bidding open all week long. At the end of the week, announce the winners and the total money raised for Donate Life America. Bake Sale: For a donation, sell cookies, candy, brownies, donuts, sodas, etc. Set up the bake sale in a busy place at your office, either in the morning as people are entering the office, or by the door around lunchtime. Jeans Day: Arrange to hold a “Jeans Day” at your office during which employees can pay $5 to wear jeans to work that day. Office Olympics: Create your own office Olympic games and have co-workers pay a set amount to participate.

Workplace Fundraisers Continued: Office Mini Golf: Hold a mini golf tournament in the office using only items found in the office to set up the course. Charge a participation fee (we suggest $5). Sportswear Day: Employees can donate $5 to be able to wear shirts and hats of their favorite sports team. Office Obstacle Course: Set up an obstacle course using office supplies and furniture and charge people a participation fee to run the course. Treasure Hunt: Hide a prize somewhere in the office and have people donate a set amount to participate in the hunt. Leave clues and riddles for the hunters. Adorable Baby Contest: Post pictures of coworker’s children or grandchildren and have co-workers pay $2 to vote on the most adorable kid. Pet Photo Contest: Employees post pictures of their pet. Co-workers pay a set amount to vote on a pet. Have different categories to vote on such as cutest, goofiest, and most unusual. Guess the Baby Contest: Employees bring in their own baby pictures. Co-workers a charged a participation fee to guess which baby picture belongs to which co-worker. The person who gets the most correct wins a prize. Jellybean Counting Contest: For a donation, co-workers can guess how many jellybeans are in the jar. Paper Plane Contest: Co-workers pay a set amount to create their own paper plane and compete against others to see whose paper plan can travel the furthest. Paid Parking: Raffle or auction off a year of free parking. Coin War: Place jars in the office for “extra change” and have departments compete to raise the most money.

For additional information on workplace giving, please contact Casey News at cnews@donatelife.net or 804-377-3589.

Section 2: Talking Points and Facts About Donation and Transplantation Help us spread awareness of our mission by incorporating these helpful talking points and donation and transplantation facts into your fundraising campaign. •  Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race, or medical history.

•  All major religions in the United States support organ, eye and tissue donation and see it as the final act of love

and generosity toward others. •  More than 1 million tissue transplants are done each year and the surgical need for tissue has been steadily

rising. •  If you are sick or injured and admitted to the hospital, the number one priority is to save your life. Organ, eye and

tissue donation can only be considered after you are deceased. •  When you are on the waiting list for an organ, what really counts is the severity of your illness, time spent waiting, blood type, and other important medical information, not your financial or celebrity status. •  There is no cost to the donor or the donor family for organ or tissue donation. •  Every dollar that is contributed to Donate Life America goes directly toward increasing the number of committed donors, one person at a time. •  Based on history, it takes over $40 to add one new donor to a state registry. For every donor your dollars help add to a registry, you provide hope to as many as 50 people, as one donor can provide as many as seven critical organs and numerous tissue and cornea transplants.

•  Organ donors are always in short supply.

•  Many families say that knowing their loved one helped save other lives by being a donor helped them to cope with their loss.

For additional information on workplace giving, please contact Casey News at cnews@donatelife.net or 804-377-3589.

Section 3: Information on the online fundraising tool and how you can utilize it Creating your personal fundraising page is fast, easy, and fun! All you need to do is go to www.donatelife.net/fundraise. There, you will be asked to enter basic information and then – presto! Your personal fundraising page has been created! But you can’t stop there! Successful fundraising pages include the following: •  A personalized story and explanation of why you want to fundraise for Donate Life America. •  Relevant pictures and videos. For instance, if you are fundraising in honor or in memory of someone who is

connected to organ, eye and tissue donation, post pictures and videos of them to motivate and emotionally engage prospective contributors.

•  A thought-out goal. A good blurb to put on your page is this quote that we use here at Donate Life America:

"Research shows that it takes $40 to add one new donor to a state registry. Just one donor can save the lives of up to 7 people." We have found that it is a great call to action for the public to financially support Donate Life America and our mission. We suggest strategically thinking about the goal that you want to set. A good way to do this is to take the aforementioned blurb and think about how many lives you could save with your fundraiser. So if $40 could save 7 lives, then think about how many lives you could save with $500, $700, $1,000, etc. See what we mean?

Be sure to bookmark your page’s URL so that you can easily send it out and return to it to make edits. If you forget your URL, however, all you need to do in order to sign back in is go to www.donatelife.net/fundraise and click on the “Log In” link located in the top right corner of the page.

For additional information on workplace giving, please contact Casey News at cnews@donatelife.net or 804-377-3589.

Section 4: April is National Donate Life Month With National Donate Life Month in April, what better time is there to start planning your fundraiser! Decide on a monetary goal you want to reach and then spend the month of April holding fundraising and awareness building events benefiting Donate Life America and our mission. You can easily track your goal by creating a fundraising page at donatelife.net/fundraise. National Donate Life Month (NDLM) was instituted by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003. Celebrated in April each year, NDLM features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation. If you are planning on having a one day fundraising event as opposed to a month long campaign, consider holding the event on National Blue and Green Day which falls this year on April 11. For more information and to access free National Donate Life Month resources, head to www.donatelife.net/NDLM. Section 5: Information about matching gifts Does your company match charitable gifts? Finding out is as easy as asking your organization’s HR representative. Taking this small extra step can double the difference your contribution makes in the lives of those waiting today. From all of us at Donate Life America, THANK YOU for joining in the fight to save and heal lives through organ, eye

and tissue donation. You are giving the gift with the most important return on investment – LIFE!

For additional information on workplace giving, please contact Casey News at cnews@donatelife.net or 804-377-3589.