The COVID-19 Pandemic has deeply affected children and exacerbated existing social, economic, and health inequities. Children have lost opportunities to practice the executive function, pre-literacy, math, and social skills critical to the early childhood experience.
Last year’s Give Local campaign came at a crucial time. The Museum had been closed to the public for a month due to the Covid-19 crisis, so KidsPlay turned their focus to delivering virtual content to support playful learning at home. The organization was reliant on its donors to be able to keep moving forward since income from admissions, memberships, and rentals essentially disappeared. They were so pleased and amazed to see how committed donors were to their cause!
Eileen Marriott, Museum Director at KidsPlay states: “By the end of the event, we had over 200 donors, enabling us to win both the Connecticut Community Foundation’s “Dollars for Litchfield County” prize of $1,000, the Grand Prize for “Most Unique Donors for a Medium Organization,” and a $1,500 prize sponsored by Ion Bank Foundation.”
KidsPlay relied heavily on their Board of Directors and P2P fundraising. They had nine board members and staff sign up to be fundraisers through the Give Local site with a total of 57 gifts made through their pages. Some Board members didn’t set up “fundraiser” pages but were enthusiastic about sharing their social media on their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
On social media, the organization was diligent about posting a series of “Play is…” campaign posts leading up to the event in order to build excitement and teach about the value of experiential learning and healthy child development. They also sent e-blasts to their visitor and donor lists to get them ready for the 36-hour giving event. On the day of the event, they posted updates to their Instagram and Facebook stories, plus continually thanked their donors and provided updates on their goals for winning prizes.
The Foundation would like to congratulate KidsPlay on a successful 2020 Give Local fundraising campaign! We are certain that they’ll be incredibly successful in the upcoming April 20-21, 2021 Give Local campaign as well. If you are a nonprofit and would like to learn more about registering for the upcoming Give Local Greater Waterbury and Litchfield Hills campaign visit: www.givelocalccf.org. Nonprofit registration is currently open and closes on April 7.
