We will be celebrating reaching our milestone of Half a Million Kids Receiving Birthday Bags since our organization began.  We plan to have special guests  fill the 500,000^th  birthday bag at the event, and the Governor is proclaiming it “Cheerful Givers Day” throughout Minnesota.

We will have a number of interactive elements this year that allows visitors to experience the Birthday Party in a way that resonates with each of them. The design will invite the passer-by to stop and engage while floor visuals grow throughout the event.  Included will be a Join the Party opportunity, scavenger hunt, Knowledge Quest informational kiosks, Build a Birthday Bag Lego Station and many prize drawings.

It’s a free event with donations encouraged.  All are welcome!

Support our cause by eating chicken wings, or whatever you choose, at the Buffalo Wild Wings at 1280 Promenade Place in Eagan, Minnesota on Saturday, January 14 between 12-4 pm.  Mention Cheerful Givers and we will receive 10% of food sales. 

If you have already given, thank you very much! If not, there’s still time to make a tax-deductible donation to Cheerful Givers and to know that you showed the not-so-fortunate children that they, too, are special by allowing their parents to recognize their birthday with a toy-filled gift bag.

Your gift of $100 will bring birthday joy to 10 children. We appreciate whatever you can afford, and it will make a difference in a child’s life.

Thanks for your generosity and a very Happy New Year!

Overall Give To The Max Day brought in over $13 million for 3,978 nonprofits in Minnesota.  Many thanks to all who gave!

Of course we’d love you to donate so we can continue to help children in need celebrate their birthday. But you can also help in other ways.

Share from our website
We’ve created a central page on our website explaining what GTMD is and how to donate. At the bottom of this page are various buttons to share via social networks, email, like the page on Facebook and +1 it on Google+. Using these buttons to share will increase the totals displayed for each type of sharing and encourage others to do the same. Use all of them if you like then keep reading for more ways to use social media to help.

“Attend” our virtual event on Facebook
Tell your Facebook friends you’re participating in GTMD and supporting Cheerful Givers by “attending” our virtual event.

Become a Fan of our page on GiveMN.org

1. Go to http://www.cheerfulgivers.org/gtmd (this will redirect you to our GiveMN page) and sign up. You can do it with your Facebook or Google account. It’s just takes a moment.
2. Then go back to our page and become a fan (lower right column)
3. Feel free to use any of the share buttons on this page
4. You could also add a comment if you like

Mention us on Facebook
Follow these instructions to use the Facebook “mention” function from your personal page.

1. Start by visiting the Cheerful Givers Facebook page
2. Click on the “like” button at the top if you’re not already a fan of our page.
3. Now, you can return to your Facebook page and begin posting.
4. To “mention” Cheerful Govers, simply begin typing your message. When you’re ready to mention us, type the @ symbol and Facebook will prompt you to type in the name of a friend or page like Cheerful Givers.
5. Once you finish the post, you’ll notice that Cheerful Givers appears in light blue font. This means it is hyperlinked to the GiveMN Facebook page. And, since you used the @ symbol, the post appears on the Cheerful Givers page as well.
6. Need ideas about what to say? You could simply reshare our posts throughout the day or use some of these:
• Today is Give to the Max Day! @Cheerful Givers provides toy-filled gift bags for children who are living in poverty on their birthday. Please support them with a donation http://www.cheerfulgivers.org/gtmd
• Today is Give to the Max Day in Minnesota, every donation you make gives @Cheerful Givers the chance to win even more money to help needy children celebrate their birthday. http://www.cheerfulgivers.org/gtmd
• Team up with @CheerfulGivers today, Give to the Max Day. Donations can help win even more money & more kids living in poverty can have a Happy Birthday!  http://www.cheerfulgivers.org/gtmd
• Today only every donation provides @CheerfulGivers the chance to win even more money. Help provide for needy children on their birthday! http://www.cheerfulgivers.org/gtmd
• I support @Cheerful Givers and their mission to provide toy-filled gift bags for children who are living in poverty on their birthday. Donate today, Give to the Max Day, at http://www.cheerfulgivers.org/gtmd

Tweet about us

1. Follow us on Twitter @cheerfulgivers
2. Retweet any of our tweets throughout the day
3. Reply to us and tell us how you’re spreading the word, use the hashtag #GTMD11
4. Need more ideas about what to say? Try some of these (the shortened link goes to our GiveMN page):
• Every donation gives @CheerfulGivers a chance to win more $. Help kids living in poverty! http://ow.ly/7t2fY #GTMD11
• Help @CheerfulGivers provide birthday gifts for kids living in poverty. Maximize donations today http://ow.ly/7t2fY #GTMD11
• It’s #GivetotheMaxDay. Team up w/ @CheerfulGivers & help kids living in poverty can have a happy birthday! http://ow.ly/7t2fY

Write a blog post
We’d love it if you wanted to write a blog post about us and GTMD. Here are some resources that might be helpful:

• Cheerful Givers logo
• More Cheerful Givers info
• GTMD media toolkit

Please send us the link to you post so we can include it on our blog.

Whatever you do, thank you for supporting Cheerful Givers!

OutstandingDining.com founder, Ben Berry is a manager at an independent
eatery in the Twin Cities. After working with other gift certificate and
discount websites to expand the customer base at the restaurant, he
came to realize two important truths about online gift certificate
venues: first, that these sites were playing an increasingly important
role in how and where consumers spent their money.  Secondly, he
realized that many of the small, independent businesses that
participated often did so at a operating loss. He became convinced that
there was a better system to be had and set out creating one.

His concept: a website that ensured each gift certificate sold benefited
the participating restaurants just as much as it benefited the
consumer.  At that point, he realized he needed to take the concept one
step further.  The need for gift certificates and discount venues
stemmed from tight economic times. Tight economic times also meant that
most local nonprofits were struggling for funding right at the time
their services to the community were needed the most.  Berry not only
saw an interesting correlation, he also saw the next evolution of online
gift certificate websites: a system that met the demands of the
consumer while also addressing the needs of the community.

Check out the options at Outstanding Dining!

Cheerful Givers is now being featured on Groupon.com  with a G-Team campaign running from Aug. 23-25.

 As you may know, Groupon is a website that features daily deals (50 to 90% off) on local goods, services and cultural events in more than 500 markets and 46 countries worldwide. G-Team is a community outreach initiative within Groupon that brings communities together to do good, have fun, and make an impact. G-Team has been working in the Twin Cities to help mission-driven organizations like ours raise money and  raise awareness, channeling the collective buying power of Groupon followers and our local supporters.

 
If you’re not currently a member of Groupon, sign up at (http://www.groupon.com/subscriptions/new) and confirm your city as Minneapolis/St. Paul. Then check your daily Groupon email, or you can go here to support our cause and encourage your friends to help.

We need 50 people to donate a minimum of $10 to get the funding. The result will be 50 less fortunate kids get to have a Happy Birthday!

Congratulations also to Debra Price, the lucky Twins fan, who also receives $1,700.