Old Independence Regional Museum Joins the Global #GivingTuesday Movement on Dec. 1st
Batesville – Old Independence Regional Museum has joined #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide. OIRM is using this platform to launch a year end Membership Drive. Like many non-profits, members are the backbone of financial support the museum. Through its Day Sponsor membership level, OIRM seeks to have each day’s operations underwritten by a donor for $250 per day. In return, a Day Sponsor receives free admission, discounts, membership for a friend, guest passes, and message of their choice in the Museum entrance for their chosen day. Currently, only 84 days are underwritten. “Increasing membership is imperative to the future of Old Independence Regional Museum,” stated Director Amelia Bowman “current membership dues account for 25% of the museum’s total revenue, we would like that number be 60% or more.”
Santa Claus with Armload of Presents — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis
Occurring this year on December 1, #GivingTuesday is held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday to kick-off the holiday giving season and inspire people to collaborate in improving their local communities and to give back in impactful ways to the charities and causes they support.
Old Independence Regional Museum decided to join #GivingTuesday to be part of a something bigger than itself and Batesville. “While we certainly prefer folks give to the museum, we understand #GivingTuesday is bigger than us. We want people to give their time, money, or energy to causes they believe in for their own wellbeing and that of the organization they support,” said Bowman. The museum’s goal for #GivingTuesday is to add enough new Day Sponsors to underwrite 100 more days than this year. “Donors can sponsor as many days as they like for $250 each day,” added Bowman. Day Sponsorship is not the only way to help Old Independence Regional Museum, other memberships range from $30 to $100 and volunteers are always needed.
Those who are interested in joining Old Independence Regional Museum’s #GivingTuesday initiative can visit www.oirm.org to donate or come by the museum located at 380 S. 9th St. in Batesville. All donations are tax deductible. Online donations will be partially matched from the museum’s online donation servicer Network for Good. Old Independence serves a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820s Arkansas territory. The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.00 for seniors and $1.00 for children.
92Y − a cultural center in New York City that, since 1874, has been bringing people together around its core values of community service and giving back − conceptualized #GivingTuesday as a new way of linking individuals and causes to strengthen communities and encourage giving. In 2014, the third year of the movement, #GivingTuesday brought together 30,000 partners in 68 countries and registered 32.7 million impressions on Twitter, with its eponymous hashtag mentioned 698,600 times. Since 2012, online giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving has increased more than four-fold, based on findings by Blackbaud and the Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, produced in partnership with the Case Foundation.[1]
“We have been incredibly inspired by the generosity in time, efforts and ideas that have brought our concept for a worldwide movement into reality,” said Henry Timms, founder of #GivingTuesday and executive director of 92Y. “As we embark on our fourth year of #GivingTuesday, we are encouraged by the early response from partners eager to continue making an impact in this global conversation.”
For more details about the #GivingTuesday movement, visit the #GivingTuesday website (www.givingtuesday.org), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday) or follow @GivingTues and the #GivingTuesday hashtag on Twitter.
About #GivingTuesday
#GivingTuesday is a movement to celebrate and provide incentives to give—the 2015 iteration will be held on December 1, 2015. This effort harnesses the collective power of a unique blend of partners—nonprofits, businesses and corporations as well as families and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. #GivingTuesday inspires people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they celebrate and help create a better world. #GivingTuesday harnesses the power of social media to create a global moment dedicated to giving around the world.
To learn more about #GivingTuesday participants and activities or to join the celebration of giving, please visit:
Website: www.givingtuesday.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday
