I came across this blog today because they picked up our Giving Party story. The site is called Golden Goods and they only publish good news. They (correctly!) claim that whatever you give your focus, energy and attention to is what you get more of in life…so why not focus on the good stuff? Very cool! Who couldn’t use a little more good news these days?
Read all about it… December 7, 2008
in today’s News & Observer! There’s a nice article about our little party that grew and grew…and as the totals now stand, the 3 Giving Parties held last Thursday raised over $30,000! Our Chapel Hill party raised $15,000 from our guests, plus $2000 in matching Habitat for Humanity of Orange County gifts, plus $5000 in DonorsChoose.org gift cards that guests received. Charlotte & Charleston parties pulled in $12,500 together! What an amazing night of giving.
So many people to THANK! First, our guests! They certainly didn’t let some pretty daunting economic news slow them down in their generosity. Mary Beth Grealey–this party would NEVER happen without her. She’s our technical genius, printing goddess and basically, our all around make-things-run-smoothly chick! Casey Saussy for helping us get amazing PR through WCHL and the N&O. And of course, Diane & Art Belden for hosting our lovely, feel-good event (and they’ve already agreed to do it again next year!). And of course, some of our sponsors, including Trader Joe’s (the wine was delightful, Greg!), The Catering Company of Chapel Hill, Laser Image Corporate Printing and Amy Lewis for doing our website. And of course, we can’t forget the Brader-Araje’s for their gift cards to support DonorsChoose.org.
Now, I’m really in the holiday spirit!
Giving Party Totals… December 5, 2008
are still rolling in. The Chapel Hill party was amazing and so much fun…and we raised over $15,000 for the organizations represented! I’ll have more details as we pull in all of the numbers, but once again we were all just blown away by the generosity of our friends!
Our sister parties also had amazing nights–Charleston raised over $7000 and Charlotte raised over $5500! Those totals, plus matching gifts for Habitat AND gift certificates for DonorsChoose.org brings Giving Party totals to over $27,000 this year.
All I can say is WOW!
New website…check us out! November 24, 2008
Check out our new site at www.giving-party.org. You can now read about our Giving Party plans online at that site and contact us at info@giving-party.org. I’ll be reporting on the success of the Live Small.Give Big party in Charlotte and the Low Country Giving Party in Charleston on the site, as well as reporting from our own party. Maybe I’ll get fancy and do some live blogging while the party is going on! We have well over 100 people committed to coming to our Chapel Hill Giving Party this year. We can’t wait!
Give, because Peter Walsh says so… November 12, 2008
Peter Walsh, the Aussie organizer and Oprah’s personal pick for organizing folks on her show, just included this in his monthly newsletter regarding holiday gift giving:
Consider giving an “experience” rather than a “thing”
All of us are in tight economic times – keep this in mind going into the holiday season. A concert, theater ticket, restaurant gift certificate, or even a donation to a particular charity can leave a more lasting impression than another bottle of perfume or one more unnecessary article of clothing.
So, do as Peter says! Join us at our Giving Party and make a donation in honor of those you care about.
Bummer…Bill’s going to be in Africa November 4, 2008
Oh well…I’ll keep inviting him. Perhaps a few other surprise celebrity guests will be there? You have to come and give to find out!
Bill Clinton on the guest list… October 20, 2008
I just sent off my invitation to President Clinton for this year’s Giving Party. I invited him last year since his book “Giving” helped to inspire the idea for our party. I received a very nice RSVP call from his office letting me know he couldn’t make it, and a signed letter from him congratulating us on our amazing success last year. I figured I might as well add him to the guest list again this year. Now, off to invite Oprah…
More giving parties… October 17, 2008
When we first cooked up this idea of a Giving Party, we weren’t thinking beyond Chapel Hill. But once we saw the response we thought we should spread the good word and encourage others to throw their own parties. And now that’s starting to happen. A “Live Small, Give Big” giving party is being hosted in Charlotte this year (thanks to Rosie Molinary) and a Low Country Giving Party is happening in Charleston, SC.
If you like this idea and want more information about throwing your own giving party, just post a comment on the blog and we’ll send you more information. Eventually, we’re hoping to put together a party kit that you can purchase, making it even easier to have your own party. And naturally, we’ll give away all of the profits. Look for our website, http://www.giving-party.org, to launch later this year.
Feelin’ the love…
One of the reasons the Giving Party is so much fun is that it’s an easy party to pull together. I’m just blown away by the generosity of people in our community. You invite them, they come, and they give so generously! One amazing example of this is the Brader-Araje Foundation. Last year, we invited Laura Brader-Araje to join us at the party to represent DonorsChoose.org. Not only did she show up and offer fantastic information about the organization, she provided each guest with a $100 gift certificate from their foundation to spend with DonorsChoose.org. We were overwhelmed by her generosity. And this year, when we invited her back, she offered to do it again!!
Evites went out last night. We hope you’ll join us this year, have a blast spending your $100 with DonorsChoose.org AND jump start your holiday shopping by giving to the other organizations represented. As one guest said in her Evite reply, “it’s more fun to come and give than open your 401K statement right now!”
Save the date…Giving Party ’08! October 9, 2008
We just had our first organizational meeting for our giving party this year. Given the horrendous economic news and the neck-and-neck political campaign, I can’t think of a better time to have something positive to focus on. This year, Diane Belden has graciously offered her amazing home for the party. Casey Saussy has joined me, Mary Beth and Diane to help us pull together the details.
We selected the following organizations to be represented:
Habitat for Humanity of Orange County
Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County
Fuel Up of Chatham County
Center for Women’s Health Research at UNC
The date of the party will be December 4, 2008. More details will follow but we have great hope that we’ll have more guests, more donations, and more gifts to give! If you missed last years party, feel free to scroll through this blog to read up on the idea (yet another crazy idea dreamed up while watching Oprah!), the success from last year (over $12,000 raised in 3 hours plus inspiration for two additional giving parties in Charleston and Charlotte), our local sponsors, and more.
We hope you’ll join us this year! It promises to be lots of fun with lots of feel good moments. Give until it feels good!
Giving Party 