As Give!Local‘s 60-day campaign draws to a close, donations have crossed the philanthropic project’s first-year goal of $30,000. Project organizer Susan Hutchinson is urging anyone thinking about making a donation to do so quickly. The 60-day campaign to raise funds for 30 WNC nonprofits ends at the stroke of midnight, Dec. 31.
Hutchinson points to the benefits of donating through the project: “You help some of your favorite local nonprofits, you feel good about helping, and you get some great perks! Make a donation of $10 or more and look what you’ll get!” she enthuses.
Give at least $10 and we’ll send you a voucher book in January that includes:
- one free Chai from Chai Pani
- one free small coffee and muffin from Mosaic Cafe
- $10 off a purchase of $20 or more from Patton Avenue Pets
- buy-one-get-one Expresso drink from High Five Coffee
- 15% off one meal from Blue Dream Curry
- buy-one-get-one Salted Carmel from Kilwin’s
- and more items you’ll find in the voucher book
Give $250 or more and get the voucher book — plus these extras:
- a pair of tickets to the Fine Arts Theatre
- a voucher for a LaZoom Comedy Tour
- a lunch at one of several downtown Asheville restaurants (such as Roman’s, Chai Pani)
Give $500 or more and receive the voucher book, the above extras — plus these items:
- a $20 gift certificate to Malaprop’s Bookstore
- a dinner at Chai Pani
- and more
Give $1,000 or more and we will personally deliver a gift basket to your home or business (in the Asheville area) containing all of the above, plus:
- 0ne-month free membership at BeerCity Crossfit
- one handmade coffee mug by Mangum Pottery in Weaverville
- a winter seasonal brew from Highland Brewing
- a sample bag of handmade grits from Barkley’s Mill in Weaverville
- a gift certificate from Kilwin’s
- a special gift from Hickory Nut Gap Farm
- and more
To make a donation, go to givelocalguide.org, where can you learn about the different participating nonprofits and pick your favorites to add to your shopping cart. All the money you give (minus the credit-card processing fee) goes directly to the nonprofits you designate. Incentives will be sent out in late January.
Give!Local is a Mountain Xpress project to promote and facilitate end-of-year giving to local charities. The campaign provides a fun, fast and easy way to give online, from $10 to $10,000. Donors can give to just one or to as many nonprofits as they like and then pay with one easy credit-card transaction. Everybody wins — you get free stuff (coupons, tickets, vouchers and other perks: see above!), nonprofits get new supporters and needed funds, and local businesses who have provided your incentives get new folks coming through their doors in February and March.
One of the goals of the Give!Local is to encourage a whole new generation of givers — kids. Children 12 or under who give at least $5 (with their parents’ permission, of course), get a kiddie scoop from The Hop and are entered to win one of these special kid-oriented prizes:
- Six-month Book-of-the-Month membership from Spellbound Children’s Books
- Kids bike from Motion Makers
- Horse riding lesson from Equinox Horse Foundation
“The challenges of such launching such an ambitious project have been great,” Hutchinson notes, “but because of the incredible support of our business community, nonprofit community and the giving public, we have exceeded our first-year goals and have begun to plan out next year.”
She expects Give!Local to grow in 2016. “I hope Give!Local will turn into an area-wide lovefest, with businesses and nonprofits and locals coming together for the mutual benefit of everyone. Our first year has catapulted us into a new era of excitement and generosity.”
1 thought on “Give!Local donations surge as Dec. 31 deadline nears; perks of giving touted”
until there is some improvement in leadership in this town, there will ZERO ‘donations’ from this pocket! ZEE ROW.
please encourage EVERYONE to cease all donations to ALL ‘charities’ in AVL until the TAXPAYERS see improvement!
we are TIRED of the constant BEGGING from those who continue to fleece us daily…enough. stop.