A special favor--

[Maureen Carney]

Dear Friends,

 

You may remember from last year that Valley Gives Day is around this time of year. It’s actually TODAY, and I have a very special favor to ask of you:

 

TODAY is a very important day. It’s Valley Gives, and for 24 hours from midnight Dec. 9 to midnight Dec. 10, over 450 nonprofits in the Pioneer Valley will participate in a marathon fundraising drive, and compete for bonus cash prizes from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

 

You may know that I am a member of the PVS orchestra. We participate in this 24-hour fundraising marathon to help us raise much-needed unrestricted funds for our operations. Please help us by donating to the Pioneer Valley Symphony between midnight, Dec. 9 and midnight, Dec. 10 via our Valley Gives platform.You’ll not only be helping us raise money, but you’ll be increasing our chances of winning cash prizes for the PVS from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

 

Here’s what you do:

 

1. 1.      Go to valleygives.razoo.com/story/PVS
2. 2.      Select the green button that says DONATE
3. 3.      Enter the amount of your donation (there’s a minimum of $10)
4. 4.      Please then select DONATION BOOSTER, which adds the platform and credit-card fees to your gift so that your entire gift will be received by us. On a donation of $10, that adds $.49.
5. 5.      We have a $2,500 match as well! If the match has not yet been met, your donation will go towards meeting it.

 

When you have finished donating, please share on any and all social media platforms you use: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest. Every Facebook share is worth $18 in donations you might inspire! Since Valley Gives is entirely online, it doesn’t matter where you are in the country or the world, so share away!

 

If you’re not able to make a donation on December 10, you can schedule a donation anytime between now and then, and it will count towards our goal. If you choose this option, you must set up an account on Razoo. They won’t record your gift or charge your credit card until December 10.

 

If you donate on the day, there is no need to make an account on Razoo. In fact, it’s better not to, especially if you plan to donate more than $10. Here’s why:

 

• This year, prizes are awarded not for amount raised, but for number of unique donors.Last year we had 373 unique donors and came second in our tier—which got us a big bonus!
• Our goal this year is 500 unique donors and first place in our tier, which will give as a $5,000 bonus from the Community Foundation.
• A unique donor is counted by email address. So if you have more than one email address, you can make a $10 donation from each and you will be counted as a unique donor multiple times.

 

This is also a wonderful day to make donations to other nonprofits in the Pioneer Valley. Simply search for the cause you want to support, and if they’re part of Valley Gives, you’ll find them and be able to help them as well.

 

Thank you so much for supporting an organization that means so much to me. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to respond.

 

All the best,

 

Maureen