Cheerful Givers was also pleased to receive a $1,000 grant
from the Vikings Children’s Fund. Along with the grant,  a note from Mark
Wilf, Owner/President  stated “We congratulate you on the vital
contributions you are making in your community and look forward to seeing the
continuation of your fine efforts in the future.”

MikeBollinger, Cheerful Givers board member and Founder/CEO of Livefront, was recently featured in
Twin Cities Business Magazine as one of the “200 Minnesotans You Should Know.”

He was also being recognized for his work as co-founder of TECHdotMN, an organization that reports on
technology news in Minnesota.

We are proud to have Mike on our board!

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!

Special guests Natalie Davis, Miss Minnesota 2011 and Haley Obrien, Miss Minnesota Collegiate, joined the efforts to help reach more of the 174,000 kids in Minnesota who are now living in poverty. The event was hosted by Thomson Reuters in Eagan. Many thanks to sponsors:  AAA Minnesota/Iowa, Hands On Twin Cities, Northern Dakota and Southern Dakota/Scott County Chapters of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

See more photos on Flickr.

Cheerful Givers board member, Corey Cox, cheered them on.

Thanks to a generous donation from AAA Minnesota/Iowa and support from Hubbard Broadcasting, Cheerful Givers is now being featured in more than 100 thirty-second spots on KSTC-TV, Channel 45 in the Twin Cities area.

Randy Williams, Regional President, AAA Minnesota/Iowa commented “We appreciate your work and what the Cheerful Givers organization does for so many children, families, and communities. I am blessed to be able to be involved, and was very happy to see how our employees rallied in support. We hope the ads help inform and brings lots of additional support.”

Hubbard Broadcasting is offering to personalize this ad to other businesses that may be interested by changing the final logo and tag line. Opportunities for matching spots may exist as well. Contact karen@cheerfulgivers.org for more information.

218 attendees learned more about our Cheerful Givers mission and had a chance to ask questions of the players.  The Twins generously donated 20 prizes, including autographed shirts, hats, homer hankies, Twins tickets and even a wind-up Michael Cuddyer.  Players announced the winners during the event.

A live auction was also conducted by Michael Cuddyer for a bat he had signed by all team members, a framed photo and baseball cards autographed by Harmon Killebrew, and use of the Mauer/Morneau suite for 16 guests.

The event concluded with VIP ticket holders getting their items autographed by these great players. Fox Sports covered the event and there’s a great slideshow now appearing on Thisweek — “Breakfast With Champions and many photos at http://michaelcuddyer.com/photos/?album=2&gallery=2

Thanks to all who attended as well as the Chart House for hosting, Bremer Bank and Thrivent Financial (S. Dakota, SW Hennepin & S. Ramsey Chapters) for sponsoring, and ten great volunteers for helping.  Special thanks to Claudia Cuddyer and the players who graced us with their presence.