CORPORATE WISH WEEK Credit: Keyser Images
About Make-A-Wish Qualifications for a Wish Any child over the age of 2½ and under the age of 18, diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition, may qualify for a wish regardless of the family s race, gender, creed, socio-economic or cultural background. Types of Wishes The wish requests are as unique as the children who make them. The majority of wishes fall into five categories: I wish to go I wish to be I wish to have I wish to meet I wish to give Wish Impact* A wish come true helps children feel stronger, more energetic and more willing and able to battle their life-threatening medical conditions. For many, it marks a turning point in their fight against their illnesses. 97% of adult former wish kids say they experienced improved mental and emotional health. 74% saw the wish experience as a positive turning point in the wish kids battle against their illnesses. A wish improves children s state of mind, replacing fear with happiness and helping them to feel like normal kids again. 99% of parents reported that the wish experience gave their children increased feelings of happiness. 97% of parents said the wish experience strengthened their families. * Make-A-Wish America. Wish Impact Study Results Initial Phases: Jan Dec 2010. March 2011.
Wish Week Overview: Who, What, Where, When and Why Who? YOU! Companies across the country are invited to engage employees, lead others and host successful Corporate Wish Weeks. An individual, group of co-workers or small steering committee can start a Corporate Wish Week. What? Corporate Wish Week takes place at your organization and is made up of a week s worth of fundraising events in support of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic and the granting of local wishes. Where? Corporate Wish Week fundraisers are usually held at a place of work, or at an office but can also take place at a local venue or restaurant. When? Corporate Wish Week can happen anytime; although they often culminate around an already existing company initiative such as an internal event, holiday party, annual meeting or quarterly initiative. It is best to find a time that will attract the most involvement from your employees and plan a Corporate Wish Week around it. Why? Corporate Wish Week fundraisers enable you to make local wishes come true for kids with life-threatening medical conditions. In addition to helping grant wishes, companies can expect to: Provide employees with the understanding of importance the company puts on giving back to the community Give staff another reason to love working for your organization Instill a sense of company pride Encourage comradery among employees Provide an avenue for team bonding Credit: Keyser Images
Successful Corporate Wish Week Fundraisers include: KICK-OFF EVENT Bring your company together for an all-staff meeting or happy hour to kick-off your Corporate Wish Week and get employees excited! Consider hosting it at a local venue or in your office. Work with the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic office to help build an inspirational PowerPoint presentation to include one of our amazing wish videos. You can invite a Make-A-Wish guest speaker to share information or have a leader at the company present. Some companies also enjoy providing giveaways and investing in themed decorations for the week. To kick off the fundraising, encourage staff to participate in a Miracle Minute. MIRACLE MINUTE Challenge employees to donate their change or dollars to see how much each department can raise in just one minute. Set a timer and invite staff to empty their pockets and grant local wishes. Don t forget to plan for volunteers to collect the donations. WISH WALLS Sell Make-A-Wish Star provided by Make-A-Wish for $1.00, $2.00, $5.00 or more and fill a wall. This can also be a great holiday or seasonal promotion. SALES EVENTS Sell food, employee gear, customized t-shirts, or Make-A-Wish products (such as lanyards, stars or wristbands), before, during or after work. DRESS DOWN DAY Employees can contribute a small fee to wear casual clothes to work for the day and can wear Make-A-Wish stickers to show their support. Consider charging more to make it an entire Dress Down Week. SPIRIT DAY Create a theme for the day and invite staff to purchase a bracelet for $5-$10 (or other donation amount) to be able to dress up for the day. Any theme is possible! Popular favorites include: Company spirit day, favorite sports team day, superhero day or Make-A-Wish Blue day. RE-FOCUS AN EXISTING ACTIVITY Turn your summer picnic or holiday party into a Wish Come True for a Child by collecting a small donation at the door. You can also add a raffle or a silent auction to raise more money. SPORTING EVENT OR TOURNAMENT Inspire a little competition by having departments participate in a golf, softball or basketball tournament. You can charge admission in addition to a fee to enter as team to play. Also think about organizing a raffle or silent auction to increase revenue and add some more excitement to the event. PIE IN THE FACE Whip up a little fun, either as separate event or as part of the grand finale, by inviting staff to donate $5 to pie their bosses or peers in the face. All you need to do is fill whipped cream into pie containers and charge $5/each to staff member who want to participate in pie-ing. Get the entire team together and consider having a prize for the staff member who receives the most requests to get pied in the face. COMPANY MATCH CHALLENGE Ask if your company would be willing to match the employee contributions to make your donation stretch even farther! GRAND FINALE Host a grand finale fundraising event, such as a breakfast, party or team outing to celebrate your success! As a fun ending to the week, we recommend including a final miracle minute as well as including some giveaways and decorations. To hone in on the mission, share a wish video provided by the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic team to show your company what they helped accomplish.
Enhance Your Wish Week PERSONALIZED FUNDRAISING PAGE Ask your Make-A-Wish contact to set-up a personalized fundraising page for your company to use before, during and after your Wish Week. You can send it out to your staff, family and friends to contribute to your company s financial goal. DONATE AIR MILES Invite all employees to donate their air miles! Every mile donated helps wish kids and their families travel to destinations around the world. Even though the donation of air miles do not add to your Wish Week Fundraising dollar total, they are equally important and a fun way to get your company engaged on a different level. Once donated, your miles will never expire and are used to support wishes across the country. Wishes in Flight
CORPORATE Adopt-A-Wish Agreement WISH WEEK Name: Company/Organization: Address: Phone: E-mail: I/we would like to participate at the following level: $1,000 $2,500 $5,000 $7,500 $10,000 $15,000 $25,000 Other Dates of Wish Week: Types of fundraising that company plans to do: Corporate Wish Week Program Terms: Individuals, businesses, groups and organizations may participate in the Corporate Wish Week program. Corporate Wish Week companies who raise a minimum of $10,000 have the option of being symbolically matched to the next eligible wish child on the chapter s wish list and will be notified of a wish child s first name, age, medical condition and wish type of the wish they are symbolically adopting, once funds and Adopt-A-Wish paper work is received. All communication with wish families must be initialized through the local chapter. Should you like to promote your support, Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic must approve all uses of its name and logo in advance of production, printing or distribution. In order to avoid inadvertently jeopardizing existing relationships between Make-A-Wish and its donors, Sponsor agrees to receive approval from Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic before soliciting corporations, businesses, celebrities, sports teams, or individuals for cash or in-kind donations relating to the Corporate Wish Week. Sponsor represents to Make-A-Wish that: (a) it will comply with all applicable laws during the planning, promotion and conduct of the Wish Week; (b) all necessary insurance, licenses and permits will be obtained and will be in force through the conclusion of the Wish Week; (c) the Wish Week will result in no cost or expense to Make-A-Wish whatsoever, unless expressly agreed in writing to the contrary; and (d) it will indemnify and hold Make-A-Wish harmless from any and all claims of any kind or nature whatsoever arising out of, or in any way related to, the Wish Week. Funds can be remitted to Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic via check, credit card, cash or electronic funds chapter. If there are multiple checks and cash included in the donation, please keep all together and contact Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic to arrange pick-up/drop off. Donations made directly from the company are 100% tax deductible to the company. I have read and agree to the sponsorship terms and conditions. Authorized Signature: