Holiday Wish Drive MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN 2017 This Year Who Will You Inspire? Thank you for leading a Holiday Wish Drive on behalf of the Family Giving Tree. It is our hope that you will have a fun and rewarding experience as a Drive Leader for your group. This packet contains information that will help ensure the success of your Drive, and we invite you to contact us if you have questions or need additional information. GIFT DUE DATE The due date for gifts is Monday, December 11. Earlier deliveries, beginning December 7, 8, and 9 (Saturday), are welcome. Unfortunately, we are not able to pick up gifts, so it is the responsibility of our Drive Leaders to ensure all gifts are counted and delivered to Family Giving Tree s Holiday Wish Drive warehouse. The location of warehouse will be announced on our website. Remember to bring the personalized drop off form that will be emailed to you before December 11. Around December 11, we again plan to offer one-day drop off locations in San Francisco and the East Bay. Check our website for updated information. HELP SPREAD THE WORD! Since Family Giving Tree s founding in 1990, we have held strong to the belief that no child should feel forgotten during the holidays. Your referrals enable us to serve even more children in the Bay Area. Talk with your family and friends and find out if their company, school or team might be interested in leading a drive. Please direct anyone interested to our website: www.familygivingtree.org, or invite them to email or call the Family Giving Tree directly. We ll be glad to help them get registered! Remember, every gift is another wish fulfilled. Vicki Stairs Corporate Programs Coordinator driveleader@familygivingtree.org 408.946.3111 x 214 www.familygivingtree.org
Tips For a Successful Drive Display your posters and cards in very visible, heavily trafficked areas. Keep materials fully stocked! Have your supporters post materials and spread the word via email, social media, and in-person. Send reminders! A little motivation like holiday candy or a note card with announcements will inspire people into action. Coordinate a launch party (Think: holiday cookies, cocoa, etc.). Get your group in the giving mood and ready to fulfill a child s wish! Our Best Tips for a Successful Drive! Start early and involve your supporters in your planning Re-stock cards often and email/phone us when you need more wish cards Keep a roll of blue painter s tape near your drop-off area to secure loose wish cards Help is Available! Visit: www.familygivingtree.org to find: Answers for your most frequently asked questions (and those of your supporters) Downloadable logos and other Drive Leader resources to print at work or home Family Giving Tree Holiday Wish Drive videos and photos to share Wish Card tracking spreadsheets
Other Ways to Get Involved Sponsorship The Family Giving Tree is honored to partner with corporations, business owners, foundations and organizations who sponsor our Holiday Wish Drive. Become a Family Giving Tree Sponsor and help us create joyful memories for the thousands of children we serve. While each sponsor package is customized to meet the needs and interests of your organization, all sponsors will receive the following benefits: Additional warehouse volunteer slots Recognition on our website during the Holiday Wish Drive. Recognition on prominent Holiday Wish Drive collateral, including posters. Recognition in our quarterly newsletter. Logo displayed at Family Giving Tree s Holiday Wish Drive warehouse, visited by more than 7,000 volunteers and media during the month of December. Recognition at Family Giving Tree s annual Holiday Wish Drive Appreciation luncheon. Sponsorship packages begin at $2,500. For more information about becoming a Family Giving Tree Sponsor, please contact: Jake Manaloor Development Director Jake@FamilyGivingTree.org 408.946.3111 x 210 Jessica McGill Development Manager jessica@familygivingtree.org 408.946.3111 x 224 Create a Virtual Giving Tree! The Family Giving Tree s Virtual Giving Tree is a simple way for your employees, members, customers and friends to donate. Virtual Giving Trees are a great alternative for donors who might be unable to directly purchase a physical gift. Donate online and we ll do the shopping! If you requested a Virtual Giving Tree when you registered as a Drive Leader, you will create your customized page, which will include: FEATURES A personal, branded webpage with your organization s name and logo. The ability to donate throughout the Drive and after the deadline for physical goods has passed. SET-UP IS EASY! Just send an email to: driveleader@ familygivingtree.org with your organization s name and logo. Within a few days, we will provide you with the address of your webpage, which you can then distribute by intranet or email. Virtual Giving Trees go live on November 1 and will continue to accept donations through January 15. Donations received by January 15 will be included in Family Giving Tree s awards calculations. After the deadline, donations will be rolled-over to the 2018 Holiday Wish Drive.
Monetary Donations By Cash or Check Accepting monetary donations is an important piece of what we do as an organization and we want to make sure our donors intentions are honored. Drive Leaders serve as a critical link between donors and the Family Giving Tree. Below you will find important information about the handling of cash or check donations. NOTE: To receive credit, your organization s name must be included with all financial donations. We suggest that you label all donation envelopes with your organization name before placing them out for selection. Donations received by January 5th will be included in Family Giving Tree s awards calculations. After the deadline, donations will be rolled-over for calculations in the 2018 Holiday Wish Drive. HOW DO I TURN IN CHECK DONATIONS? Mail checks directly to: Family Giving Tree Sobrato Center for Nonprofits 606 Valley Way Milpitas, CA 95035 HOW DO I TURN IN CASH DONATIONS? Please do NOT mail cash. Drop off cash donations at Family Giving Tree s Holiday Wish Drive warehouse or Family Giving Tree s Milpitas office. Send a courier with your donations to Family Giving Tree s Milpitas office. If you collect cash, track cash donations on our Donation Tracking form which can be found on our resources page at familygivingtree.org/hwd-resources DONOR TAX RECEIPT INFORMATION Every donor will receive a receipt by mail if the following information is provided with the donation: donor name, complete address, donation amount and gift date. Tax receipts for donations of gifts can be found on our website under Support FGT For tax purposes, donations must be dated by December 31st to provide a tax receipt for that tax year. Due to the high volume of donations we receive, the Family Giving Tree is unable to provide receipts at the time money is delivered to our office. You will receive a receipt in the mail. CORPORATE MATCHING GIFT PROGRAMS Does your organization have a matching program? Let us know and we ll list it on our website. If you have any questions or would like additional information regarding monetary donations, please contact: Amelia Johnson Development Officer amelia@familygivingtree.org 408.946.3111 x 202
NEW FOR 2017 Returning drive leaders will find four improvements to the program: 1 2 3 4 If possible, ask donors to attach the wish card to the gift with blue painter s tape it keeps the gifts looking great. Please return a LOOSE toothbrush with each gift we no longer tape them on. For gift, grocery and store cards, please mark the loaded value on the card itself a Sharpie works great. Don t forget your FGT collection boxes, available at our launch locations or our Milpitas office. $25 Holiday Wish Drive Holiday Wish Drive
FAQs WHEN ARE GIFTS DUE AT THE WAREHOUSE? Gifts should be delivered to Family Giving Tree s Holiday Wish Drive warehouse by Monday, December 11. Earlier deliveries on December 7, 8, and 9 (Saturday) are welcome. Drive leaders are encouraged to promote an earlier due date to allow for on-time delivery to the warehouse by December 11. Please count your gifts and complete the personalized form that will be emailed to you prior to Dec. 11. In addition, this year we will again have one day drop-off points in San Francisco and the East Bay, along with our South Bay warehouse: SAN FRANCISCO Dec. 8, 11:00 am 6:00 pm Arriba Juntos, 1850 Mission Street CASTRO VALLEY Dec. 12, 10:00 am 5:00 pm 3 Crosses Church, 20600 John Drive OAKLAND Dec. 12, 11:00 am 5:00 pm Location TBD DOES FAMILY GIVING TREE PICK-UP GIFTS FROM DRIVE LEADERS? No. Unfortunately, the Family Giving Tree does not have the resources to pick-up from the hundreds of Drive Leaders who support us. WHAT DO I DO WITH LATE GIFTS? Our partner nonprofit agencies will begin gift pick-up from the Family Giving Tree warehouse on December 14. Although we cannot guarantee that gifts donated after this date will go directly to the child listed on the card, we will ensure all donated gifts go to children on our waiting list. Should you find yourself with late donations, please do drop off those gifts at Family Giving Tree s Holiday Wish Drive warehouse through December 16. Please review the attached calendar for warehouse hours. WHAT IF I CANNOT FIND THE REQUESTED GIFT? We have worked hard to ensure all wishes can be found easily and are both price & age-appropriate. If you find that an exact match of the primary listed wish is not possible, please look at the secondary or alternative wish listed. If you are unable to find either, choose an alternative gift within the same genre of the original wish (e.g. toys, athletic wear, electronics). If you still find that you are unable to fulfill the wish, please contact us by phone. We appreciate the time you take to fulfill each wish. WHAT IF I LOSE A WISH CARD? Please attach a piece of paper to your gift, listing as much information as you can recall from the original wish card. Tip! Take a photo of your tag with your smartphone just in case. WHAT DO I DO WITH LEFTOVER WISH CARDS? We encourage Drive Leaders to display the wish cards for as long as possible. However, when our Drive has finished, leftover cards may be returned to the warehouse or our office in Milpitas. Please return leftover cards in an envelope labeled with your group s name. I RAN OUT OF CARDS. HOW DO I GET MORE? Please contact our office ASAP for more cards: DriveLeader@familygivingtree.org or 408.946.3111 x214. WHERE DO I FIND YOUR HOLIDAY WAREHOUSE ADDRESS? Once we receive confirmation of the location of our (donated) Holiday Wish Drive warehouse, we will post that information to our website.
Wishes Sign Out Donor Name Recipient Name Age Gender Wish Zone # Code Name ID # Use this page for your information and convenience only. It may help with remembering the details of lost cards, or encourage those who sign cards out to return them with gifts. FGT does not need to collect this information.
December 2017 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Early Drop-offs 10:00 am 5:00 pm 10:00 am 6:00 pm 10:00 am 3:00 pm 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Delivery Day: Gifts Due First Day of Agency Pick-ups Last Day for Gifts Open 8:00 pm 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Agency Pick-ups Open 8:00 pm 3:00 pm 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 5:00 pm 3:00 pm 3:00 pm 12:00 pm For more information, visit: FamilyGivingTree.org
Sobrato Center for Nonprofits 606 Valley Way Milpitas, CA 95035 Tel: 408.946.3111 www.familygivingtree.org Design donated by Alexander Atkins Design, Inc.